RWBY: Not the Only Remnant
by Smeef
Summary: After the Battle of Endor, most of the crew of a Star Destroyer desert from the Empire. In a frantic search for a new home, the crew of the "Equinox" discover a planet that hasn't been colonized. Despite a pre-space civilization being on the planet, they choose to make a home on the world. How will the people of Remnant react to aliens who aren't as alien as they thought they'd be?
1. Chapter 1

8

 **Ok, here's a Star Wars (original trilogy) and RWBY crossover. In case the summary doesn't work out well enough for my tastes, I'll leave it here.**

 **With the destruction of the second Death Star, combined with the deaths of the Emperor and Darth Vader, the Empire is in shambles. Now with next to nothing holding them back, many Imperial troops deserted from the Empire and went home. One division of elite Imperials, however, know that should the Empire return and defeat the Rebel Alliance, they will be hunted down for their desertion. To avoid that possibility, these soldiers searched for a planet to call their own. After a few desperate weeks of searching for a suitable new homeworld, they finally found a promising world.**

Through the black seas of space, a single Imperial Star Destroyer drifted alone. From the bridge of the imposing ship, the captain overlooked the surprising number of men and women it took to simply make it go. An officer approached the captain and saluted him.

"At ease, officer. There's no need for that. We're not officially part of a military anymore." the captain said.

"Sorry, Captain. Old habits die hard. There is a reason you're still the leader here, sir." the officer replied.

"Fair enough. What did you have to tell me, Tray?" the captain asked.

"Our deep-space scans have finally come back with results that…well, they weren't negative for once." the officer named Tray replied.

The captain turned around to fully face Tray. "Truly?"

"Yes, sir. This datapad has all of our scans." Tray answered, handing over a datapad. The captain took the datapad and looked it over, taking careful note of the details.

 _Hmm…This world might actually work. Ideal atmosphere, natural resources a-plenty, and little to no levels of known pollutants. Only thing is that some strong energy signatures show that we probably won't be the only people there. As long as we can avoid the natives, there shouldn't be any problems._ the captain thought as he read the report.

"Sir?"

The captain looked up from the datapad and handed it back to Tray. "Let's hope that the people there are friendly, or at least not hostile on sight."

Tray nodded and turned off the datapad. "What are your orders, sir?" 

"Prepare a survey team to retrieve more details about this world." the captain ordered.

"A survey team, sir? The scans speak for themselves in that this planet is perfect to start a new colony for ex-Empire like us. Why would we need to gather more intel?" Tray asked.

"Something about that world feels different, somehow. I don't want to devote all of our manpower to a planet that may prove to be hazardous. Besides, there are things that personal experience can say that scans never could."

"I see…I think." Tray muttered. "I'll have a survey team ready to go." he added, saluting and turning away to leave.

"Tray." the captain said.

Tray froze in his tracks and turned back around. "Sir?"

"I want you in charge of the survey team."

"Me, sir? I was newly assigned here before the Emperor was killed. I don't think there's much I could do to benefit them."

"Your record says otherwise. Before you were drafted, you were quite the budding diplomat; and you stood out as a leader at the Academy, as well as during your previous post on Mandalore" the captain retorted.

"I…Yes, sir. I'll gather a team for when we arrive at the planet." Tray said, turning back around and leaving the bridge.

The captain looked out into space and thought, _I only hope that the Alliance doesn't come looking for us. It's almost ironic that after our galaxy-wide hunt for them, the hunters have so suddenly become the hunted._

Two hours passed and an officer approached the captain. "Sir, Lieutenant Tray and his survey team are ready to depart. Shall I give them clearance?"

"Do it."

"At once, sir." the officer said. He walked back to his station and said, "Ensign, you and your team for clear to commence your mission."

"Thank you." Tray's voice announced over the comm.

"Do it." Tray said to the pilots of the Lambda shuttle he and his team were on.

The pilots nodded and started to take off. The shuttle left the lone Star Destroyer and flew a good way from it. "Ensign, we're in range of hyperspace."

"Good. Enter it as soon as possible."

"At once."

Tray watched as the pilots went through the final preparations for hyperspace travel. A few seconds later, the familiar blue lines of entering hyperspace were seen, and the shuttle shot forward into space. "Jump successful. Setting autopilot on. You can all release your restraints back there." the pilot announced, leaning back turn turning his chair around.

"Good job, Shejas," Tray complimented. "I could never fly a ship."

"That's because you didn't try hard enough in the Academy." Shejas replied.

"That, and I still hate flying ships."

Shejas snorted and said, "I don't think you could last a year off a ship now."

"I'll manage."

Shejas shook his head with a smile and said, "Well, I won't keep ya. I know you gathered this team and all, but from what I saw, not everyone knows each other."

"That tends to happen when you pick up other ex-Imperials." Tray answered.

"Better to not be an Imperial anymore. It would make sense that we keep the Star Destroyer though. We could use it for more than just fighting."

"I thought you said you weren't going to keep me?" Tray quipped.

"Oh. Sorry." Shejas said, his head slightly bowing in embarrassment.

"It's fine." Tray said, standing up from his chair to leave the cockpit.

Shejas turned his chair back around to look into hyperspace. He looked over his shoulder and said, "I'll be here…flying the ship."

"I bet you will, autopilot." Tray jokingly called out as the cockpit door closed behind him. A ghost of a smile on his face, Tray realized that almost the whole survey team was staring at him. He straightened up and said, "Uh…Hello there."

The team still stared at him.

"I…suppose some proper introductions are in order" he suggested, looking over the team.

After more staring and silence, Tray took a quick breath. _Tough crowd._ "I guess I'll start. I'm Lieutenant Tray, and I was put in charge of this team."

"Pfft."

Tray ignored the scoff and continued with his introduction. "I was born on Dantooine, but I grew up on Coruscant."

"Aww."

Tray closed his eyes for a second but quickly opened them again. _Looks like we have a smart-ass in the team. Why would there_ not _be a smart-ass?_

"I was originally going to become a diplomat for the Imperial Senate before it was disbanded by the Emperor and I was forced into the Academy."

"That's cute."

"Okay…who's doing that?" Tray asked.

In almost an instant, one hand went up. Tray looked at the offender to see a man that didn't seem much older than him with a smug grin on his face.

"And you are…?" Tray asked.

"Trio. Don't ask." the man answered.

"I wasn't going to."

"Good. Most people who ask me regret it."

"If you have some sort of problem with me, you could at least tell me why."

"That's the problem. All you officers do is talk, talk and talk. No spine. No action behind your words. Back in the Empire, you had your precious benefit of rank. Not anymore. You have no more authority over me, just as I have no authority over you."

"Well, Trio, I _was_ put in charge of the mission."

"I know. That's the _only_ reason I haven't knocked you flat on the ground by now." Trio snapped. His smiled grew more cruel and said, "I have to say though; the fact that you approached me for this mission in the first place interested me. I'd have to say you're one of the few people on that ship who talked to me normally"

"Trio, I don't mind your 'tough guy' routine, but it will not be an issue to turn this shuttle around and drop you off back at the _Equinox_." Tray replied.

"It's like I said, you're in charge, and I'll give the minimum respect for being the leader. I'll follow your orders, but I will be more than happy to tell you if I don't like them."

Tray nodded and said, "Always good to have a moral compass."

Trio turned his head away and snorted.

A stormtrooper put a stern hand on Trio's shoulder and looked at Tray. "You'll have to forgive my cousin. He's been obsessed with the Mandalorians since he was fifteen years old. The fact that he was saved by one a few months ago certainly hasn't helped."

Tray couldn't see it, but he almost felt a glare through Trio's helmet directed at the stormtrooper. "I see," he said. He cleared his throat and continued. "Since Trio was so willing to start talking, how about he be the next one to introduce himself?"

Trio's glare moved from his cousin to Tray. "You know enough about me. If you want to know what I do. I'm a heavy trooper. I'll be the one distracting everything with this electrostaff, letting you have a distracted target to kill."

At this point, a few of the other soldiers backed up when Trio pulled the staff from off of his back.

"What? It won't hurt anyone. It's not on."

Tray and the rest of the team stared at Trio. "…Right. I guess introductions were probably not a good idea. Let's just go with names and our roles."

Trio's cousin spoke up and said, "I'm Taddrei, and I just have this E-11 and some thermal detonators."

The team then went to make their introductions. The team consisted of five stormtroopers—Taddrei, Manrica, Soltrev, Brenver, and Renbra—Trio, a heavy trooper, a medic named Katlin, and a few scientists and engineers.

With introductions out of the way, Tray cleared his throat and said, "I'm sure that you all know what we're here for, so I don't think a briefing is necessary. You're dismissed." With their dismissal, the team relaxed and tried to get some space in the shuttle.

Tray went back to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot's chair. "So how'd it go?" Shejas asked.

"Everyone is mostly normal."

"Mostly?"

"Yeah. A heavy trooper named Trio doesn't like officers. If I wasn't told otherwise by his cousin Taddrei, I'd think he was once a Mandalorian."

"Ouch…You know, I can easily turn this shuttle around and drop him off back at the _Equinox_ if you want me to."

"I already told him about that. He said he'll follow orders, but he'll be happy to tell me if he doesn't like it." Tray replied, staring out at hyperspace.

Shejas nodded and kicked his feet up on the dashboard. "Hyperspace is surprisingly soothing to stare out into, ya know?"

"It is."

Shejas pulled his feet off the dashboard, turned his chair to face Tray and said, "It's amazing to think about. As we've spoken, we've sped past who knows how many planets, asteroids, and moons…And we take this technology for granted."

"Yes, we do take it for granted. We have the ability to do so, so why not use it?" Tray commented.

Tray and Shejas stared out of the cockpit for the next few hours, with idle conversation between the two friends. If one were to look at the two, it would be odd to see an Imperial officer being so friendly toward a Zabrak. A quiet alert went off, making Shejas look over it and say, "We're already coming up on the planet? That can't be right."

Tray tapped on a few buttons where he was, pulling up the nav-computer. "Hmm…It says we're almost there."

"But the computer said we wouldn't be there until a few more hours." Shejas protested.

"Computers have done stuff like this before."

"If you say so."

The Lambda shuttle continued its trip through hyperspace until it reached the system of the potential new home for the _Equinox_ 's crew. The shuttle came out of hyperspace and Shejas pushed a button for the ship's comm. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in the system of that world we were sent to. If you need to make any last minute preparations, I'd do it now."

The shuttle flew to the planet, and the first thing that Tray noticed was the moon. He and Shejas exchanged looks before looking back at the moon. "Wonder what happened." the Zabrak muttered.

"Too many possibilities to narrow it down. I bet the scientists will have a field day trying to figure it out though." Tray replied.

"Alright, well, we're almost there. You should probably go lead your team." Shejas said, tilting his head to the door behind them."

"Yeah. Talk to you later, Shejas." Tray said, standing up and leaving the cockpit. Tray gathered the soldiers in his team and looked at Trio.

The Mandalorian-wannabe smirked before putting on his helmet. "I'm ready to kick ass. Don't get in my way."

Shejas' voice rang over the ship's comm. "Lieutenant, there's a forest not too far from what looks like a city. Do you want me to try making contact with the city, or to land in the forest?"

"Land in the forest, Shejas. We don't know how the people here would react to seeing an Imperial shuttle."

"Alright. I'll see if I can find a clearing as close to the city as I can."

Taddrei looked out of a small window from behind the shuttle and said, "Sir! You'll want to see this!"

Tray quickly walked to the back of the shuttle and looked out of the window that Taddrei pointed out. "…What is that thing?"

"I don't know. It _looks_ like a bird…A really, really big bird."

"It looks big enough to cause even the shuttle some problems," Tray mused. "Keep an eye on that bird and let me know if it makes any aggressive moves toward us."

"Yes sir."

Shejas' voice rang back over the comm. "Sir, I found a good clearing. Setting down…now."

The team quickly grabbed onto something before the familiar feeling of a ship landing on the ground slightly shook the floor. "Thank you for flying with Shejas Hyperspace Lanes. We hope you enjoyed your trip, and that you will come back to us in one piece." Shejas jokingly announced over the comm.

The loading ramp of the shuttle lowered, with the usual steam. Once the steam became safer to walk through, Tray stepped foot on the ramp. Trio noticed this and thought, _Hmm…Boots first kind of person. I guess he won't be as bad as I thought._

Tray walked down the ramp, followed by the stormtroopers and Trio, with Katlin in the back. Tray pulled out a DH-17 from its holster and quickly checked to make sure that it had the right setting. "Remember, everyone: blasters set to kill unless we meet the locals."

The small group of soldiers spread out through the clearing, looking for possible signs that an animal lives in the clearing. Soltrev motioned to Tray that his part of the clearing was empty, with Taddrei, and Manrica making the same motion a few seconds later. The rest of the soldiers regrouped Tray held up a comm unit. Shejas, the area's clear. The rest of the team can come out now."

"Yes, sir."

The non-combatants of the team exited the shuttle, with the various scientists looking around in awe. "This place…It's amazing. Look at these leaves—how green they are." one of them said, picking a leaf off of a tree and examining it.

Trio rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Green leaves! Pure air!…What's next? A huge piece of fruit?"

"On a world that's never been discovered? Who knows?" Taddrei replied.

Trio just shook his head and continued to walk around the clearing. Even if his words made him sound unimpressed, Taddrei could tell that he was a little excited about the idea of being one of the first to discover a new planet. _If only he would quit acting like a typical Mandalorian and just be himself for once._ he thought.

Tray watched as the scientists gathered samples of various plants and different parts of the soil. When they went back to the shuttle, Tray held up his comm. Shejas, raise the ramp. The rest of us will be heading out toward the city."

"Got it, sir. Just let me know if you need any help. This may be just a shuttle, but it has some lasers I can use to help you out."

"I'll keep that in mind," Tray said, turning off his comm. He motioned to his squad to follow him. "Trio, since you're a heavy trooper, I want you on point."

"Of course. Make the big guy lead the way." Trio quipped.

"Manrica, I want you to make sure that Katlin stays safe. Stay with her, and try to not get separated."

"Yes, sir."

"Taddrei and Soltrev, I want you two watching our right. Renbra and Brenver, you two guard our left."

With their positions worked out, the squad walked away from the clearing. As they walked through the forest, Tray couldn't help but feel that he was being watched. _It's probably just animals._ he thought.

In the distance, a forlorn howl reached their ears. "Heads up, people. Heads on a swivel." The group walked through the forest, not looking at anyone spot for longer than two seconds. Just before the squad began to relax, they heard a strange sound, and a voice.

"Turn back! The Empire will not be welcomed on Remnant!"

 **I know that this is shorter than what I usually do in my other story, but I'm planning on doing shorter, more frequent chapters for this story; and longer stuff for my other one. I still plan on continuing Shadow of Sauron, but I'm in a bit of a rut right now with where I'll be taking it. Until I work it out, you'll probably not see a whole lot of it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, here's the second chapter, so I hope y'all enjoy it.**

 **Since I didn't really introduce the rest of the squad last chapter, I should probably give a little bit of info about them.**

 **Manrica is a human, born on a ship during a trip from Nar Shadaa to Coruscant. He joined the Imperial Academy one year ahead of most of his friends, and joined the Stormtrooper Corps soon after graduation. Despite his seemingly clean background, he is deceptively skilled in less tasteful activities such as picking locks, hacking, and stealing. This got him considered for spy-work, but he deserted from the Empire before he could be transferred.**

 **Soltrev was born on Alderaan before its destruction, but was led to believe that a miscommunication in the chain of command was the cause of Alderaan's destruction. The moment that he discovered the truth behind the destruction of his home, he deserted from the Empire, along with the rest of the** _ **Equinox**_ **'s crew.**

 **Brenver is a rather recent clone from the Fett template. Like Boba Fett, he has no genetic tampering. In an effort to conceal his background, he underwent extensive facial reconstruction and cybernetic enhancement. Unfortunately, this put him in more debt than he had calculated. When a good friend of his found out about Brenver's enhancements, he ensured that he would start out with an officer's pay, despite being a soldier in the Stormtrooper corps. Despite his debt, he deserted from the Empire, hoping to begin anew.**

 **Renbra was born on a space colony, and lived his life believing that he would be a miner his whole life. When the Empire began to undergo more intense conscription, Renbra was forced into the Imperial Army, only to be transferred to the Stormtrooper Corps when his mechanical and combat skills were noticed by an officer. Even though he felt some gratitude to the Empire for freeing him from a life of spice-mining, he felt just as convinced to leave the Empire behind when the** _ **Equinox**_ **defected.**

 **Katlin is a medic that used to be a part of the Imperial Army. Unlike the rest of the survey team's soldiers, she was never a part of the Stormtrooper Corps, but her medical knowledge has saved the life of many soldiers, both on and off the field. Due to her almost uncanny medical skills, some of her peers in medical school would joke that she is a gift from a deity from Naboo, to which she would reply, Foolish and childish." A very serious woman, she has devoted her life to helping people and to the study of medicine.**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 2: Grimm Introductions**

The squad of ex-Imperials all looked around the source of the sound and voice, but couldn't find anyone. "We know you're out there! Only a coward hides!" Trio yelled.

Even though they could not see who was speaking, they felt as if their mysterious visitor was smirking at them. "Perhaps. However, there's not much that one can do against the 'might of the Empire.'"

"We're not with the Empire anymore," Tray stated. "We've deserted."

"Yes, yes, and I'm a Hutt in human form," the voice snarked. "If you truly turned your back on the Empire, why wear the uniform?"

Tray slowly holstered his blaster, motioning to his squad to at least lower their weapons. "Our desertion was a choice made in the spur of the moment."

"And what 'moment' would that be?" the voice said, clearly not believing Tray's words.

"The Empire is dying, with some stubborn members trying to keep it alive."

"Pfft. I highly doubt that. Last I heard, it would 'last for ten-thousand years.'"

"No. The Emperor is dead, along with Lord Vader and a large number of the command staff." Tray replied.

The voice was silent for a tense few seconds. "Hmm…I sense the truth in your words, yet I cannot simply trust anyone from the Empire."

"How do the people of this world even know of the Empire? I thought you were a pre-space civilization?" Trio blurted out.

"I'm like you in that I don't belong here."

Trio growled. He was getting tired of not knowing where this person was and felt his breath quicken. _Calm down, Trio. This coward will show himself sooner or later. When that happens…_ he thought, forcing himself to relax.

"Could you please tell us who you are?" Tray asked.

The voice chuckled and a figure fell down from the trees above, landing right in front of Tray. Before any of them could make a move toward the stranger, he held his hands out and the squad went flying in different directions.

"No more talking! Leave, or suffer the consequences!" the voice yelled, seemingly having the very earth agree with his words.

Trio was the first to recover and drew his electro staff. "Oh, you're gonna _pay_ for that one!" He rushed at the cloaked stranger, the ends of his staff crackling with electricity.

"So be it." the stranger said darkly.

Just as Trio's electro staff was about to hit the stranger, a strange snap-hiss sound went off, and his attack stopped. His eyes widened underneath his helmet when he saw what was keeping him from hitting his squad's attacker. A bright yellow laser was between the staff and the stranger. Trio stole a glance to the man's hand to see a small piece of metal which was emitting the yellow laser. "You're a Jedi!" he exclaimed.

"Yes I am…And you will not leave this place alive!" the Jedi yelled, breaking away from Trio and using the force to push him away.

Soltrev and Brenver, seeing that Trio was now out of the way, opened fire on the Jedi from behind. To their dismay, their attacker turned around at inhuman speeds and deflected all of the away from him.

The Jedi scoffed on seeing his handiwork. _Blast, I'm getting rusty. Those bolts were supposed to go back to them. Oh well…_ he thought.

Before the Jedi could make a move toward Soltrev and Brenver, Renbra and Taddrei fired at the Jedi from the other side. Just as with Soltrev and Brenver, the Jedi deflected their shots, only for the blasts to not hit them back.

Trio stood up and reactivated his electro staff, charging at the Jedi. _Jedi powers or not, he's going down!_ he thought, feeling the adrenaline rush through him. He had never seen, let alone fought a Jedi before. This will be a true test of if he was worthy of becoming a Mandalorian someday.

The Jedi jumped high into the sky, making the squad aim upward in an attempt to find him. "Where'd he go?" Manrica exclaimed, a hint of fear in his voice.

The squad looked all around their surroundings, looking for any sign of movement. Just when it seemed that the Jedi had disappeared, Tray heard a light thud behind him. He whirled around and aimed his blaster at the Jedi, only to find that the barrel of his weapon was now missing. The Jedi pulled back his lightsaber, ready to end Tray's life, but he froze.

Tray dared to look at the Jedi's face to see a look of utter confusion and…fear?

"M…Master?! But…You died! I saw you die!" the Jedi exclaimed, deactivating his weapon and slowly backing away from Tray.

The rest of the squad aimed at the surrounded Jedi, waiting for Tray's orders. "Sir?" Katlin asked, not risking even looking away from the Jedi.

The Jedi seemingly collapsed, clearly in shock at seeing Tray for some reason. "You died…At the Temple all those years ago. Y-you can't possibly be him."

The soldiers all exchanged glances with each other. "This guy is nuts." Soltrev muttered, sneaking a glance at his blaster setting.

"Pfft. No kidding. I say we blast him and move along." Trio growled.

"I'm with Trio. He appears to be mentally unstable, and will be unpredictable if you spare him. I say we neutralize him and get on with our survey mission." Katlin stated.

"I don't know if we should do anything. I say we just leave him to…whatever's out here." Brenver said.

"Yeah. That big bird thing might be getting hungry, and I don't want to be around when it does." Renbra added.

"Tray, you clearly remind this Jedi of someone from his past. Perhaps you could use that to have a more civilized conversation with him?" Taddrei suggested.

"What if we took him in for questioning? We have a 'stun' setting for just this kind of thing." Manrica piped in.

"Shut up and let me think!" Tray yelled before the squad could begin to argue.

With that, the clearing was all but silent except for the small whimpering of the Jedi. After weighing his options, Tray walked toward the Jedi and held out a hand to him. "It's like I said. We're not with the Empire anymore. Let us help you."

The Jedi seemed to gain some clarity of mind on hearing Tray's words and looked up at him. "Why?…Why would you help me? A Jedi?"

"Because we aren't with the Empire anymore. Helping a member of the Jedi order will put us one step closer to turning our back on the Empire and what it stands for."

The Jedi seemed to hesitate, but slowly reached his hand toward Tray's and let the ex-Imperial lift him up. "I…I sense the truth and sincerity in your words. Not many people can lie with such conviction and fool the Force…Thank you."

Tray offered a small smile to the Jedi. "I know that we could never undo the damage that the Empire was done to your life, but I intend on helping you rebuild."

He looked at his squad and said, "Stand down. That's an order."

Taddrei and Manrica nodded to Tray in thanks and understanding respectively, while Katlin and Trio shook their heads in disappointment and disgust respectively. The others in the squad just shrugged. It was their leader's decision after all.

The Jedi let go of Tray's hand and looked around him. "It's not safe here. Those blaster shots will surely attract the Grimm."

"Grimm? Is that what that big bird is called?" Renbra asked.

"That 'big bird' is one of many different kinds of Grimm. We have to move, or else the Grimm will find us, and I can't guarantee your lives after that."

"Are these…Grimm dangerous?"

"Very. The people of this world have not been able to expand further than four kingdoms and a few outside settlements because of them."

"I bet they don't have blasters or ships." Trio scoffed.

"They have similar versions, and I get the feeling that their weapons are better suited to fighting the creatures of this world," the Jedi said, beginning to move. "Follow me. I know a place where we'll be safe."

The squad looked Katlin and Trio. "Yeah. Yeah. We were wrong, Tray and Taddrei were right. Ha. Ha. Ha." Trio said.

The Jedi was already leaving the clearing, with the survey team close behind him. "Now listen, if we do run into any Grimm, let me do the work. You can shoot at them if you must, but I am unsure of how effective a blaster will be against them."

"You still haven't told us what they are." Katlin pointed out. Even though she was all for killing the Jedi just moments ago, her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Now is not a good time to explain. We have to get to safety first."

Katlin frowned under her helmet, but listened to the Jedi. If he had truly been living on this planet, than he was the closest thing to an expert in the group.

"What did you call this planet again? Remain?" Taddrei asked.

The Jedi seemed to quietly laugh, with the air coming out of his nose. "Close. The name that the natives use is 'Remnant.'"

"That's got to have some meaning behind it." Taddrei mused.

"Perhaps, but we still need to get to safety."

As the group made their way through the forest, the same howl from before the squad met the Jedi was heard in the distance.

"Beowulves." the Jedi muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Tray asked.

"That's one of the kinds of Grimm, and they're following us. We have to hurry."

The group ran faster through the forest, ignoring the howls that were steadily getting louder, accompanied with a few low growls. To the squad's dismay, the Jedi seemingly led them to the bottom of a cliff.

"Oh, you little back-stabber!" Trio yelled, activating his staff. "You led us to a dead-end!"

"Not quite." the Jedi said, putting his hand on the cliff and pushing against it.

To the squad's relief, a small, human-sized hole slid open next to the Jedi. "Go! Get in there!" the Jedi yelled, pulling out his lightsaber.

The squad hurried into the hidden door, with the Jedi being the last one to enter. Just as the door started to close, a large, black creature barreled out of some bushes. Taddrei quickly raised his blaster to shoot at the creature, but the hidden door closed, preventing him from doing so.

Seconds, after the door closed, the angry growls of the creature could barely be heard through the thick, stone walls.

"Don't worry. The only way they're getting in is if they could get a human hand to push on the right spot." the Jedi said with confidence.

"And if they do?" Brenver asked, instantly dreading the answer.

"They'd have to throw up the hand."

"They eat people?" Brenver asked, paling under his helmet.

"…Yes."

"What kind of creatures are they?!" Brenver asked.

"Creatures that have to eat to live. I'm really not the person you should be asking these questions. I haven't been in any of the four kingdoms for some time, and I usually just get what I need and then leave."

"Wait. You've been to these kingdoms? How were you not detected?"

"The natives here look exactly humans."

"What?!"

While Brenver was speaking with the Jedi, Tray took a quick look around the hidden shelter that the Jedi led them to. "Is this place yours, master Jedi?" he asked, interrupting Brenver's conversation with the Jedi.

"Not at first, but no one has come along to kick me out, so I've taken it as my own." the Jedi replied.

"I see. So how did you find this place?" Tray asked.

"I found it on accident. I fell off this cliff and my lightsaber stuck to the switch somehow…I have yet to figure out how that happened."

"That's quite a nice story you got there, but I want to leave this place. It's too cramped for my tastes." Soltrev complained.

"Soltrev, you should be thankful that…uh…What's your name?" Tray said, intending to scold Soltrev, but ended up looking back at the Jedi.

"That depends on what name you're asking for." the Jedi replied with a mischievous smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Trio asked impatiently.

"The people of Remnant have a…unique way of naming themselves. Apparently, some war that ended nearly eighty of their years ago threatened to destroy all forms of self-expression, such as art and music." the Jedi explained.

The squad exchanged bewildered glances. A life with no art of music of any kind was almost unthinkable.

"The side that wanted to destroy art lost of course, but the biggest effect of this war is that it changed how everyone named their children. People on Remnant are named after colors, the fundamental component of art. They are either directly named after a color, a color name in another language, or a word that simply makes one think of a color."

"So to blend in, you gave yourself a color-based name." Tray finished.

"Precisely. If you're asking for my galactic name, it's Ral Thiste. If you want to know my Remnant name, it's Jonquil Citron."

"Hmm…Considering your 'Remnant name' and your lightsaber color, I can only assume that you like the color yellow."

Before Ral could reply, a voice rang out over what sounded like an intercom. "Mr. Jonquil, is that you?"

"Yes, Seladon, it's me. Go tell the others that we have…guests."

"Okay."

The survey team looked at Ral in confusion and Katlin voiced their thoughts. "Who was that?"

"That is Seladon. He may not sound like it, but he's an AI that's always been in this hidden place."

"He sounded more like a little kid, to be honest." Trio scoffed.

"Apparently, the original owner of this place based the AI's personality off of his only son's." Ral answered.

"Who were these 'others' that you mentioned?" Tray asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Ral said cryptically.

… **Or not! See ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I am sorry for that cliffhanger, but I wanted to get at least something out before the 20th. That, and I needed to work out a few things with the 'others' from the last chapter. Also, thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I hope ya'll had a merry Christmas, and then a happy New Year!**

 **Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites, by the way. I'm glad that you guys enjoy this story!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 3: A Peculiar Hope**

Ral led the survey team further into the hidden cave.

"Master Jedi, where exactly are we going?" Brenver asked.

"The elevator."

Brenver nodded in understanding. _I guess makes sense that something hidden inside a cliff would have an elevator._ he thought.

Tray paused for a moment and looked back where they came from. Taddrei noticed this and said, "Is something wrong, sir?"

Tray slightly shook his head and said, "It's nothing." 

"Come on, sir. With everything that happened in the last half hour, there's no way something isn't on your mind."

Tray quietly sighed and said, "I thought that the Jedi were all but extinct except for Luke Skywalker, and there's a Jedi leading us to safety. It's a little hard to take in."

"What I want to know is that…thing back there was," Taddrei replied, tilting his head in the direction they came. "I definitely haven't seen anything like it before."

"Same here. It looked almost like a dog on two legs."

"You must've gotten a better look at it than I did." Taddrei commented.

"Well, you were more focused on aiming at it. I don't exactly have a blaster to aim anymore." Tray replied, gesturing half of his weapon toward Ral.

"Oi! You two coming or what?" Soltrev yelled, breaking Tray and Taddrei's conversation.

Tray looked back at Taddrei and said, "Talk later?"

"Talk later."

The two nodded in agreement and walked to catch up with the rest of the group.

"Took you long enough." Trio spat, idly twirling his staff.

Tray ignored the heavy trooper and looked at Ral. "Master Thiste, where is this elevator you mentioned?"

"It's this way."

Ral motioned toward a hallway that seemed to have a light coming out from the end.

"I thought this place was built into the cliff," Katlin voiced. "That looks like sunlight to me."

"There are some small holes that let in sunlight. Don't worry; they aren't big enough for even Beowulves to get in."

Tray seemed to perk up a little on hearing the strange word. "Beowulves? You said that earlier when we heard howling." _And why does it sound so…familiar?_ he thought.

"Beowulves are one of the creatures of Grimm."

"Okay. This is like, the third time you've said that, and we still don't know what that means!" Trio blurted, making everyone look at him.

"I'm really not the best person to be telling you about them since I don't know a whole lot about them either."

"Well then tell us what you _do_ know." Trio demanded, waving his staff a little too aggressively for the team's comfort.

Ral led the team around a corner, an elevator just at the other end of the hallway. "Very well. The creatures of Grimm are creatures of darkness. The people of Remnant have only theories of their origin, but one thing is clear: the Grimm are out for blood."

"Aren't many predators?" Katlin replied. "It only makes sense that carnivorous animals would be more interested in food with blood and meat, than in fruit and vegetables."

"The Grimm are different in that they are very specific in what they hunt."

"And that would be?" Katlin asked, crossing her arms and staring at the Jedi Knight.

"Us."

The survey team members exchanged nervous looks with each other.

"So they'll go after us over anything else?" Katlin asked.

Ral nodded. "They have been observed to have attack other animals, but it is always more of a fight over territory than it is out of a need to survive."

"Are the Grimm a problem for the natives?" Taddrei asked.

"They are a huge problem. Until they made a breakthrough in their weaponry, the Grimm almost drove the people to extinction."

"Breakthrough? What kind? Do they have blasters?" Renbra asked.

"No. This discovery is a unique power source that I have never seen anywhere else."

"A discovery unique to a planet is nothing big. The Selkath have medicinal kolto." Katlin stated.

"Yes, but what the people of Remnant found could possibly revolutionize even _our_ technology."

"What is it?" Trio grunted.

"They call it 'Dust.' It is a special element that is basically their version of Tibanna gas, but it is so much more than that."

"Dust? Like, that stuff that gathers at the top of the shelf?" Taddrei asked.

"No. Not that kind of dust. The Dust found here on Remnant is a natural energy source that is almost the basis of civilization on Remnant. With the many uses of Dust under the peoples' command, they were able to drive back the Grimm. With the Grimm now pushed away, they were able to rebuild and gain something that they have not had in years: hope."

"Sounds like a fairytale, to be honest." Soltrev mused.

The group reached the end of the hallway, with the elevator door opening for them. It took a few minutes for the entire group to cram themselves in, but they worked it out without being too uncomfortable.

"Going down." Seladon's computerized voice announced.

The familiar feeling of an elevator going down was felt underneath their feet, but something felt off.

"Master Ral, how fast are we going?" Tray asked.

"This is an elevator, not a turbolift, so we're going much slower than you're probably used to." Ral replied, a small humored smile on his face.

"So what exactly is Dust used for?" Katlin asked, eager to learn more about the new resource.

"The question you should be asking is what is Dust _not_ used for. The many uses for Dust still amazes me; and I've been living here for almost ten years!"

"Sixteenth Basement Floor." Seladon announced over the speakers.

Tray opened his mouth to question Ral about his time on Remnant, but was cut off by the sound of Trio yelping in surprise when the door opened, sending the large trooper falling to the floor.

"Stupid door." Trio muttered as he quickly stood back up with no injuries except a slightly hurt pride.

"Shouldn't have been leaning on the door." Taddrei quipped, with Trio glaring at him under his helmet.

"Calm yourself. Anger is not a desirable emotion." Ral warned, giving Trio a stern look.

"Coming from an emotionless Jedi, that doesn't mean much to me." Trio snapped.

Ral slowly shook his head. "I don't expect you to understand our ways, nor do I think you can."

Trio growled at the Jedi. "And that's that supposed to mean?"

"Just an observation of your attitude." Trio scoffed at Ral's words, but kept silent.

The group turned around a corner and were met by quite a large group of people.

"Uh…Mr. Saffron, what are those robots doing with you?" a young voice asked.

The survey team looked at Ral in shock. "These…'others' are kids?" Tray asked.

"Yes. They had no one to turn to, and no place to go." Ral replied. He leaned in and whispered, "For the record, just call me Jonquil. That's how they know me."

A boy that seemed to be older than most of the others walked up to the group and said, "Mr. Saffron, what are those things?"

"They are soldiers." Jonquil stated.

 _Former._ Tray thought.

"Why are they here?" the teen asked.

"They were lost and almost ran into a pack of Beowulves."

"When will they leave?" the boy asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"As soon as we can." Tray answered honestly. "It's as Ra…Mr. Saffron said. We got lost on a mission and almost ran into a pack of Grimm." _I only saw one, but it sounded like more were behind it._ he thought.

The boy frowned, but shrugged before looking at Ral. "Well, give them directions and send em back. That's what you always do." With his less than inviting words, the boy turned around and walked over to a younger kid and seemed to be speaking with him.

"You'll have to forgive him. He's never been the most welcoming person." Ral apologized.

"Considering our uniforms, I don't blame him for disliking us." Taddrei said, tapping his helmet twice.

"It has nothing to do with your uniform. They do not know of the Empire, nor the galaxy at large," Ral said. He looked at the boy that confronted the survey team and said, "And I plan on keeping it that way."

"Admirable, I suppose. Taking care of this many kids can't be easy," Trio said, getting a few looks from his squad mates. "What? Even the Mandalorians treasure children. They don't spend every day of their lives looking for a fight."

 _Could've fooled me._ Tray thought.

Ral led the survey team through the large room and into a smaller one that seemed to be his personal quarters. When the door shut, the Jedi seemed to truly relax. He sat down at a desk in the middle of the room and beckoned to Tray to sit on the chair opposite him. "Now…I believe you had better start explaining yourselves," he said, a frown clear on his face. "Do you have any idea what damage you could do by exposing a pre-space civilization to your technology?"

"We were not completely sure whether our scans were accurate about there being a civilization here at all." Tray stated, resisting the urge to put his hands behind his back like he used to do during briefings.

"Well, now you know."

Tray opened his mouth to speak, hoping that Ral would see reason. "Listen, Master Jedi, we just—"

"For the record, I am not a Master. You destroyed the Jedi Order when I had just recently become a Knight." Ral interrupted.

"…We just deserted from one of the most powerful militaries in the galaxy in at least four thousand years; which is also known for killing half of a planet's population just to send a message. Surely you of all people would see how we are in the same ship, Ral." Tray said sincerely.

"You left of your own accord; no one asked you to leave. The Jedi were betrayed without warning, with all of us being branded traitors who must be hunted down. There is a very big difference between us." Ral bitterly replied.

"Please, Ral. Help us out here. We have resources, technology, weapons. We'd be happy to even help you return to the galaxy."

"And then what? Rebuild the Jedi Order? I'm not worthy of restoring it."

"I…" Tray started, but slightly slumped his shoulders. "We just want to put the Empire behind us."

"Then why not go to the Empire's enemies?"

"I don't think they'd take too well to a Star Destroyer showing up and claiming that they deserted from the Empire."

"You'd be surprised what people would believe." Ral scoffed. "Heh. Look at the orphans under my care. They have no idea about what I used to be."

Ral's wording caught Tray's attention. "Used to?"

"Well, I can't exactly tell these people that I have the Force, or that I'm from another planet now, can I?"

Trio growled from under his helmet and slammed his staff against the desk. "Enough of this crap! Will you help us or not?!"

Tray and the rest of the team tensed up, wondering how the Jedi would react to the soldier's aggression.

"…I will help you for a time. But after that, I do not want to see you again. I have a new life here, with the scars of the Clone Wars and Order 66 finally starting to fade. Seeing your uniforms, however…" Ral said, leaving an unspoken threat at the end.

"I understand. It can't be easy for you to see Imperial uniforms, and not be at least a little cautious." Tray sympathized.

Ral sighed and opened a drawer, pulling out a map and rolling it out on the desk. "You want to find places for you to hide from the Empire…You could try looking here, here, and here," he said, pointing out three points on the map. "They are a fair distance from the kingdoms, and with a little effort, you could probably build an underground city at any one of these locations."

Tray observed the three possible locations for a new home, carefully memorizing where each of them are.

Ral stared at Tray as he did so. _He looks so much like my master, all the way down to that look when he's memorizing something…I wonder if he is related to him somehow._

Tray looked at the Jedi and noticed the hard stare. He slowly put a hand to his face and said, "Is something on my face?"

Ral blinked and shook his head. "You can take this map if you would like. I have more," he said, grabbing a pen and circling the three regions he pointed out. He rolled the map up and handed it to Tray. "I will help you to get to your shuttle, but I will not be helping you anymore after that."

"You've done more than enough just by offering that." Tray replied.

 **And that's a wrap, I guess.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's a new chapter, and I hope that ya'll enjoy it.**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 4: First Steps**

After the impromptu meeting with Ral, the survey team found themselves leaving the hidden cliff home, with the Jedi in the lead.

"So why exactly is he going with us?" Soltrev asked, looking to Tray for an answer.

"He's just going with us back to the shuttle since he knows the area better than we do. Once we reach it, we're going our separate ways." Tray explained.

"Then what?"

"We're going to see if we can make some form of contact with the locals. If not, we're heading back to the _Equinox_."

With Soltrev's question answered, he nodded and continued to walk, wondering what else awaited them on Remnant.

As they continued their trek through the forest, Tray couldn't help but feel that it could inspire quite a bit of poetry. A beautiful, pure, and innocent appearance, yet was full of dangers that most could only dream of. From what little he had heard of the Grimm from Ral, Remnant sounds like a hard place to live. If the Grimm had pushed the locals into only four of these "kingdoms," surely they would impede the possibility of establishing a new home for the _Equinox_ 's crew.

 _I guess that decision will be up to the captain._ he thought.

"Jedi, how much further to the shuttle?" Trio grunted.

"It shouldn't be too far from here. If I had to guess, I'd say one more kilometer."

Trio nodded, but a low groan could be heard by Taddrei due to being the closest to him.

"Hold up!" Brenver said, aiming his blaster ahead of them. "Did anyone hear that?"

"Hear what?" Renbra asked, readying his blaster.

"It sounded like those things from earlier."

"Good. I've been looking for a fight." Trio replied, his staff crackling with power.

"No!" Ral hissed, picking up the pace, with the team following his example.

Trio glared at the Jedi, his staff still ready. "Why?"

"Because the Grimm _will_ kill you."

"They can't be any worse than what I've been trained to fight."

"The Grimm are different." Ral stated.

"How?! They're just mindless beasts!"

Before Ral could answer, a low growl vibrated through the woods, making the entire group freeze. Ral's commanding voice brought them back to their senses. "Run!"

The group broke into a sprint, with Ral leading the way. Tray and Katlin, being the least trained combatants of the group, found themselves in the middle, with Renbra and Manrica on either side of them.

A feral growl from behind them, had Tray resisting looking back at whatever was chasing them. As they ran from the creatures, Tray heard Ral's lightsaber ignite ahead of them. He looked at the Jedi and saw that they were running straight toward one of the beasts from earlier. Now that they were closer, and not running _from_ one of them, he could get a much better look at it.

To say that this animal looked terrifying would be an exaggeration. Nightmare material would probably still not be good enough a description. _What did Ral call them? Beowulves?_ he thought as he took note of the creature's jet-black fur. Every part of the creature was black with the exception bone-like plates along its arms, legs, back, and face. As if the bone armor and entirely black fur was not enough, underneath the mask where a face should be sat glowing red eyes that radiated with bloodlust. In short, this Beowulf looked like it could kill even a rancor with relative ease.

 _So why are we running straight toward it?!_ the logical side of his mind yelled.

Before he could start arguing with himself, Ral's lightsaber cut deep into the Beowulf's chest, making it howl in pain before quickly being silenced by blaster fire.

Despite how quickly it's howling was cut off, more howls were heard.

"Blast! We need to hurry!" Ral ordered.

Tray pulled out a comm device and held it up. "Shejas! Prepare the shuttle for take-off! We'll probably be coming in hot, so be ready to leave as soon as we're aboard!"

"Tray? What's going on?" Shejas' voice asked over the comm.

"We ran into some of the local wildlife…" Tray mumbled

Whether Shejas heard Tray's words or not, he didn't seem to respond to them. "I'll make sure she's ready to leave when you guys get here."

Tray thanked the Zabrak and turned off his comm. "Ral! How much further?"

"We should be coming up on it in three minutes." was the Jedi's answer.

"Three minutes of nothing but a sprint?" Trio asked. "Sure…why not?"

Another Beowulf came running toward the group from behind. Before it reached them, Trio roared and jammed one end of his staff into the Grimm, causing it to yelp in surprise and pain. The creature tried to swing it's massive claws at Trio, but the trooper ducked underneath its claws, pressing his staff even harder against it. _Holy crap! How much can this thing take?!_ he thought.

The Beowulf continued its almost futile efforts at hitting the trooper, with its movements slowing down. Feeling its strength slowly leaving, Trio grit his teeth and slightly adjusted his staff so that it was placed over where he assumed the heart was and jammed it into the Beowulf's chest as hard as he could. With so much voltage coursing through the Grimm's body, its heart failed and it fell to the ground.

With no time to recover, Trio looked up and saw the group was beginning to run once more. "H-Hey, wait!" he yelled, quickly taking off after them.

Before the group knew it, they were rapidly approaching the clearing that the Lambda Shuttle was in. "There's the shuttle! Move it! Move it!" Tray yelled. As they approached the shuttle, the ramp quickly lowered, showing Shejas with an E-11 in hand. His eyes widened on seeing the pack of Beowulves behind the group, but opened fire on them. He quickly moved to the side when Taddrei and Brenver reached the ramp and continued to run inside. With little to no time to slow down after running so fast, the soldiers all collapsed in an unceremonious dog-pile.

As soon as the last member ran into the shuttle, Shejas pushed a button that raised the ramp, firing at the closest Beowulf.

Seeing that Shejas was busy raising the ramp, Tray crawled out of the pile and ran for the shuttle's cockpit. He may not have ever been as a good a pilot as Shejas, but he knew a thing or two about taking off. He all but jumped into the pilot's seat and quickly went through the take-off procedure, relief overtaking him when he felt the shuttle lifting off the ground.

Shejas barged into the cockpit and said, "Alright, flyboy, let me do the work."

Tray nodded and stood up, moving over to the co-pilot's chair, with the Zabrak taking his place at the pilot's seat.

As the shuttle's wings locked into its flying position, Shejas' and Tray's jaws dropped on seeing that the big black bird from earlier was suddenly _much_ larger.

Tray leaned toward the comm mic and said, "Someone get on the aft turret! That big bird is getting closer!"

"There's no point in trying to kill a Nevermore of that size." a voice said, making Tray freeze.

"Ral? What are you doing onboard?"

"In case you didn't notice, that clearing was surrounded by Beowulves. With a pack of Grimm that large, even I would not survive very long."

"Wait…Who's this?" Shejas asked.

"Someone we picked up out there."

Shejas frowned a little on the quick introduction, but shrugged. "Right…Just don't touch anything. A lot of work goes into making this baby fly, and I'm not too sure you'd understand"

"I know how shuttles work, Zabrak."

"Wait…what?"

"Just ignore him, Shejas," Tray ordered. "See if you can lose that…What was it called? An Evermore?" he said, looking to Ral at the end.

" _Never_ more." Ral corrected

"Ah…See if you can lose that Nevermore, Shejas."

"You got it, boss." Shejas said confidently.

The shuttle turned around as quickly as a Lambda could, and flew away from the Nevermore.

"Hopefully, it hasn't seen us."

"Doubtful. Nevermore are known for having keen eyesight…and for being to use their feathers as a ranged weapon from time to time." Ral replied.

"Could you, I don't know, _not_ bother the pilot?" Shejas snapped, his jaw clenched in annoyance.

"My mistake," Ral apologized. He bowed his head to Tray and Shejas, leaving the cockpit.

As the shuttle began to gain some distance from the Nevermore, Shejas slowly relaxed. "So who's the native?"

"He's not a native, actually. He had to make an emergency landing on this planet years ago, and no one's found him until now." Tray lied, unsure if Ral wants others to know that he was a Jedi. That, and Shejas didn't seem to have the highest opinion of the Jedi Order due to his family having willingly lived under the Separatist regime.

Shejas leaned back toward the comm and said, "Ay! Anyone got a bead on that bird?"

Taddrei poked his head into the cockpit a few seconds later and said, "Brenver says that he can't see it from where the aft turret is."

"Good, we lost it," Shejas sighed in relief. He spun around in the pilot's chair and looked toward the ceiling. "Another clean getaway." he announced, stretching his arms and legs.

Ral burst into the cockpit and yelled, "Look out!"

Tray looked ahead and saw the Nevermore had somehow flown in front of them. "It's in front of us!"

"Ahhhhh!" Shejas yelled, quickly turning his chair back to the dashboard and jolting the shuttle to the side before it crashed into the bird-like Grimm.

"Everyone, strap in, or hold on to something! We're gonna make that big bird _work_ to get us!" Shejas shouted into the comm, hoping that the mic didn't get too screech too much.

He turned the shuttle around and said, "Whoever's on the turret, that thing will be in your sights from the left, just about…now!"

At the back of the shuttle, Brenver nodded and opened fire on the Nevermore, hitting it a few times. The Nevermore let out a deafening screech that they could hear even inside the Lambda.

"I'd hate to hear _that_ outside the shuttle." Tray muttered.

The Nevermore, despite its wounds, managed to fly ahead of the shuttle once more and turned around, using its humongous wings to stay in place.

Ral's eyes widened when he saw the way its wings were flapping. "It's going to shoot its feathers at us!" 

"Wait what?!" Shejas panicked.

Sure enough, the Nevermore thrust its wings at the Lambda, a barrage of large, jet black feathers flying from its wings.

"This is so wrong! We're being shot at by a giant bird!" Shejas yelled as one of the shuttle's wings got nicked by one of the feathers, sending the shuttle off-course.

The Nevermore screeched in anger at its failed attempt to shoot down the shuttle and flew straight toward it.

"Turret guy, that big bird is gonna be in range from the left in…now!"

"It's Brenver." the trooper on the turret grumbled before firing on the Nevermore. On his last shot at the creature, the laser pierced one of the Grimm's wings, causing it to slowly get closer and closer to the ground, crashing into the forest below.

"Got 'im." Brenver proudly announced.

In the cockpit, Ral leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "Impressive piloting skills, Shejas."

At the Jedi's words, Shejas turned around in his seat to look at him. "Alright, just so we're clear, we definitely do _not_ go into space, and these horns were just stupid mistakes I made as a kid."

Ral sighed and held up one hand, listing things off with his fingers. "I know that this shuttle can go into space; I know that you're a Zabrak; and I know about the Empire."

Shejas blinked a few times in confusion. He then jerked his head toward Tray and whispered, "Why'd you go tell a native all that?! Do you know what kind of damage this could do to their civilization, knowing that aliens are real?!"

"I can hear what you're saying, you know."

"How does he even know Basic?!"

"I was born on Corulag, but moved to Coruscant when I was very young." Ral explained.

Shejas looked at Ral in realization. "Oh…My bad." he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No problem."

Suddenly, the shuttle was shaken violently, sending many of its occupants falling to the floor.

"What just happened?!" Tray shouted into the comm.

Trio burst into the cockpit and said, "That big-ass bird is still following us! Renbra's trying to hit as best he can, but that thing's starting to learn to not get behind us!"

"Grimm don't 'learn.' They are too consumed by their lust for human blood." Ral stated.

Trio shrugged at the Jedi's words. "Well, either way, that thing ain't getting behind us anymore."

Tray looked at Shejas and said, "What do you think?"

"I think…that we should just fly out of the atmosphere where that thing can't follow us."

Trio clapped his hands together once and pointed at Shejas. "The Zabrak just took the words right out of my mouth."

"Only problem is that we're going to have to actually _get_ there in one piece."

"Let's just hope that the shielding will hold up." Shejas said, turning the shuttle upward.

Tray pushed on a few buttons. "Transferring all power from the guns to the engines."

"Wait. Transfer that power to the shields. I'll get us there fast enough, but the shields is what I'm worried about."

Trio watched as the two ensured that the shuttle would be able to make it in their escape from the Nevermore, but then his eyes settled on Ral. _Wait a minute…_ he thought. "Ral, you're a Jedi. Why don't you use the Force on that thing?"

Hearing the words from Trio made Shejas freeze. Tray noticed Shejas and sent an angry look toward Trio.

Shejas took a quick breath and continued to fly the ship. "So…Jedi, huh?" he asked politely.

"I am a Jedi, yes."

"Cool…Cool…" Shejas said, trying to calm himself. _What the hell?! I thought they were all dead except for Skywalker!_ he thought, shortly before shaking it out of his mind. _Focus on getting out of here first,_ then _you can talk to him._

Soltrev poked his head into the cockpit and said, "That thing's gaining on us and staying out of the turret's reach! Can't you go any faster?!"

Tray and Shejas looked at each other. "All power to engines?" Tray asked the pilot.

"All power to engines."

A few buttons and levers were used, and the hum of the engine grew louder, as well as the feeling of being pressed further into their seats. "Everyone, all power has gone to engines. You may want to hold on to something." Shejas announced to the comm.

The shuttle shook a little with the increase in speed. "Put a little power into the flight stabilizers," Shejas told Tray, who did so. "Come on, you scrap pile, hold together." he muttered when the shaking lessened in intensity.

After almost five minutes of barely avoiding the almost constant barrage of the Nevermore's attacks, Shejas looked at one of the meters and groaned. "We're almost out of the atmosphere, but that thing is still following us! " 

"Surely, it will stop once we enter Remnant's orbit." Tray reasoned.

"Let's just hope it doesn't breathe in space." Shejas muttered.

"Even if it can't survive in the vacuum of space, it will likely still continue to pursue us." Ral stated.

"What kind of creature kills itself in pursuit of prey?" Trio asked, breaking his silence.

"The Grimm are rather unique in that they only begin to 'learn' once they have lived for a very long time; up to hundreds of years. This Nevermore seems to have just recently gained this ability if his avoiding the aft turret, but still chasing after us is anything to go by." Ral explained.

"So until they live for a long time, these…Grimm are braindead?" Shejas asked, slightly annoyed at getting a lesson on the animal they were being chased by.

"Not necessarily. The people of Remnant don't know much about the Grimm other than they seem to want nothing more than the destruction of mankind."

Another deafening, yet pained screech reached the confines of the shuttle.

"Unbelievable! That thing has got to be burning up by now!" Shejas raged, not believing what he was hearing.

Trio backed out of the cockpit and came back in a few seconds later. "Brenver said that he's not seeing that bird behind us, and Soltrev said that the scanners aren't picking up any large life-signs. Taddrei said he thought he saw the thing on fire and falling, but no one else could verify that."

"Finally!" Shejas shouted.

"I know I've said it once, but I'll say it again: you are quite the pilot, Shejas." Ral complimented.

"Er…Thanks," Shejas replied. He looked at the dashboard and groaned. "Uh oh."

"What is it?" Tray asked, not liking the tone in the pilot's voice.

"Remember when one of those feathers hit us?"

"It clipped one of the shuttle's wings. Why."

"Well, the impact did more than just knock us around a little bit. The hyperdrive apparently got knocked out of alinement, and the coolant pumps are leaking because of that. Also, something seems to be up with the communication relay. I'll have the ship's systems scan it." Shejas stated.

"Can we still enter hyperspace?" Tray asked.

"Well…we _could_ …we just won't be coming back out alive."

"Damn. That's not good."

"Where's your main ship?" Ral asked.

"Sorry, but as a precaution, we can't tell you." Tray answered.

"I understand."

Tray noticed the scans of the ship's communication relay and looked at the pilot. "Shejas, is the communication relay still working?"

The Zabrak fiddled with the controls for a few seconds and looked back at the Tray. "It'll need some minor repairs, but it should work."

"Wait…that means we'd have to go see if the locals have something similar." Trio pointed out.

"Do you not have spare parts for repairs?" Ral asked.

"No. This shuttle was equipped for a survey, not for a long-term mission with few resources," Tray answered. Tray sighed and looked at Ral. "Well, Ral, you're the expert here. Any ideas where we can find some parts?"

"It's a bit of a stretch, but one of the kingdoms may have what you need."

"Which one?"

"The kingdom of Atlas: it's the most technologically advanced kingdom. It's also the northernmost kingdom on Remnant, so you may want to dress a little warm, especially with Fall nearing its end."

"How cold are we talking?" Trio asked, mentally shivering at the thought of the cold.

"Compared to snow planets, it's actually quite mild. Atlas is surrounded by natural barriers, so snowstorms won't be much of an issue. It's mostly just dressing warmer for personal comfort, than it is out of necessity." Ral replied, with Trio cheering in his mind.

"What happened to, 'we probably shouldn't bother the natives'?" Shejas asked, looking at Tray. "Won't blending in be a problem?"

"It won't. The natives of Remnant, for all intents and purposes, are human."

"Oh."

"Don't you think it will be a little…insulting, to just call them 'natives' or 'locals'?" Tray pointed out. "If we're really gonna do this, we'll need to know what they call themselves," he added, looking at Ral. "Ral, you know this world better than all of us combined, so do you know anything about that?"

"The majority of the people call themselves humans." Ral answered.

"And the minority?"

"They call themselves the Faunus."

"Alright, so we'll have to go to the kingdom of Atlas if we're going to repair the communication relay. Hopefully, by then we'll have some contacts with the Faunus, and then the _Equinox_ will arrive."

"Whoa. Whoa. You never said anything about landing a Star Destroyer on Remnant." Ral growled, a hand hovering over his lightsaber.

"It's not like that!" Tray exclaimed, waving his hands.

"Sure sounds like it." Ral said dangerously, his hand now gripping his lightsaber.

"It's like I told you: we're just looking for a home." Tray said, trying to stay calm despite the prospect of a Jedi's lightsaber threatening his life.

"Will you conquer Remnant and claim it as your own?! For the 'glory of the Empire'?!" Ral yelled.

Before Tray could answer, he saw something…change in Ral. Gone was the peaceful, yet powerful visage of a Jedi. What stood in front of him seemed almost primal—feral. The biggest change that Tray noticed was the murderous glint in Ral's eyes.

"Ral…We've deserted from the Empire. We are no longer a part of it in anyway besides what we kept from our time in it."

Ral's face scrunched up in anger and confusion and relaxed, his peaceful appearance slowly returning. No one noticed it before, but Ral seems to have a very soothing, peaceful presence that affected the rest of them. "Fine…But if you are lying, there will be no body."

"I'd expect nothing less from an angry Jedi." Tray said, a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

"Alright, a course is set for the outskirts of Atlas. Permission to start?" Shejas said, interrupting the conversation.

"Yeah." Tray answered.

"Wait," Ral suddenly . "Drop me off at the cliff near where you landed."

"Uh…Why?"

"That's where my home is."

"Ah. Got it." Shejas said.

"What about the Nevermore?" Tray asked.

"I no longer sense its presence." Ral answered.

"Heh. That's comforting…I think." Shejas muttered, tapping a few more buttons. "Okay. The course has been altered. Do I to ask permission again, Tray?"

"Nah."

"Alright. First stop: cliff for the crazy hermit with powers."

"Wha—I'm not a hermit!" Ral replied indignantly.

"Then why live outside of the kingdoms?" Shejas said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"I have people there I take care of."

"Oh."

"Shejas, just take us there. Preferably _without_ being chased by the local wildlife." Tray ordered.

The shuttle flew back into Remnant's atmosphere and headed back to its original landing site. Once they reached it, Ral pointed toward the cliff that he lived in. On hearing Ral's choice of words, Shejas turned his head and said, "In?"

"Yes. The place I live in is built into the cliff."

"That's…kinda cool, actually." Shejas replied.

The shuttle landed on the top of the cliff and the ramp lowered. Ral looked at Tray and held out a hand toward him. "I wish you and your team the best, Tray. Perhaps, if the Force wills it, we may meet again under calmer circumstances."

"Hopefully it will, Ral," Tray replied, taking the Jedi's hand and shaking it. Ral and Tray released their handshake, and the Jedi turned around to walk down the ramp. As the ramp was rising back up, Tray smiled to himself. "May the Force be with you, Jedi."

 **Is this a good place to stop? I think so. See ya'll in the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, I'm back with another chapter, and I hope you guys enjoy it Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 5: Journey to Atlas**

The shuttle lifted off from the cliff top and flew away, heading toward Atlas. Once the autopilot kicked in, Shejas leaned away from the controls and put his hands behind his head. "So, Tray, how you gonna handle this?"

"Considering how much we don't know, I'd say we should only have a few of us go into Atlas and spread out from there. I highly doubt the people here use Imperial credits, so we'll have to find ways for us to quickly get money without drawing suspicion."

"Something tells me that a get-rich-quick scam is in order." Shejas joked.

Tray chuckled at his friend's comment. "I really hope that it doesn't come to that."

Shejas fidgeted a little in his chair before standing up. "I hate to say this, but I have to pee. Make sure the autopilot doesn't fly us into a cliff while I'm gone, would ya?" he said, leaving the cockpit and Tray to his thoughts for a few minutes. As he watched the shuttle fly over possibly the biggest forest he had ever seen, he heard someone clearing his throat from behind him.

"…Sir?" Tray turned around to see Renbra leaning against the doorway. "Can we…Can we talk?"

"Sure."

Renbra sat down in one of the seats and leaned forward. Observing the stormtrooper's body language, Tray could tell that something was bothering him. "That uh, thing…"

"The Nevermore?"

"Yeah. That."

Tray nodded and offered a smile to the soldier. "What about it?"

Renbra sighed and said, "When it was chasing us, something felt…off about it. This may sound a little crazy, but it felt like I could hear its thoughts."

Tray slightly raised an eyebrow but chose to let the trooper explain. "Go on." 

"I can't really explain it, but for just a second, I could've sworn that thing spoke to me."

"That could just have been the adrenaline running through you, Renbra."

"It's weird because, at the time, I knew that I wasn't imagining things. I felt like I could've talked back to it if I knew how, but now…I'm not so sure it even happened."

"Hmm…that does sound pretty odd."

"I think that maybe the stress of being chased by monsters three times in one day is getting to me," Renbra replied. "If we were on, say, any other planet and getting chased by creatures we know, it wouldn't be so bad. I guess it's just fear of the unknown that's making it worse."

Tray leaned back in his chair and spoke up. "So you're asking if you can sit out the next part of the mission, I presume?"

"Well, not exactly. If you need me for the mission, I'm more than willing to go; but it would be nice if I could stay here for a bit when we get to Atlas."

Tray nodded to the man's words and said, "It's just getting some money to afford whatever parts we need; and I highly doubt all of us will be needed for that. Unless something comes up, you can stay with the ship."

Renbra bowed his head in thanks. "Thank you, sir. Once I clear my head of what's going on, I'll be ready for duty." He stood up from the chair and left the cockpit, with Shejas about to enter, but stepping to the side to let the stormtrooper leave. The pilot stared at the stormtrooper's back for a few seconds before looking back at Tray.

"What was that about?"

"He was just asking if he could sit out this part of the mission until he can clear his head."

"Of what?"

"Well, we _did_ just get chased by monsters three times today," Shejas opened his mouth to say something, but Tray held up a hand. "Uh-uh. I know what you're going to say, and I am very aware that _you_ only got chased once today." Shejas frowned and closed his mouth as Tray interrupted him.

"Killjoy." he muttered as he sat back in his seat.

"How long until we reach Atlas?" Tray asked.

"Eh, about an hour. Considering what happened to you guys, I think you and the others have earned a little break."

"Rest does sound pretty good right now." Tray agreed.

"I'll wake you up if we get chased by a giant bird again." Shejas said, a mischievous smile on his face.

Tray said nothing, but leaned back against his chair, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. After a few minutes, sleep overtook him. He opened his eyes, yet saw nothing but blurry shapes. Despite his loss of sight, he could still hear voices just fine, yet he did not recognize either of them.

" _Are you sure this is a good idea? There's a reason why it's a secret."_

" _I'm sure. It may take many years, even centuries, but the Grimm_ will _destroy us if we don't take extreme measures."_

" _And these 'extreme measures' involve him? With all due respect, he's much too young for such a responsibility; and his powers are better spent here and now where we know for a fact he can help people."_

" _It will work because it must."_

" _And then what? What if there's really nothing out there? You'll have doomed that child to die alone, wondering what his death was for."_

" _He will live. I know he will."_

"… _Fine. We'll do it your way, but this will come back to haunt us sooner or later; and if it's not us it haunts, it will be the future that our actions will haunt."_

Tray opened his eyes to find himself back in the shuttle, with Shejas gently shaking his shoulder.

"Tray, you alright man?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, you were shaking a little too much for comfort, and you were muttering something." the pilot replied.

Tray's brows scrunched together in confusion. "Did you hear what I was saying?"

"No. I didn't hear anything clearly, but your lips were moving."

Tray rubbed at his eyes and looked ahead of the shuttle. "How much longer?"

"We reached the region Atlas is in, so we just need to find a landing site that's not too far, but still gives us good enough distance that it'll take awhile to be discovered."

"Assuming that these people leave the safety of their kingdoms." Tray added.

"We'd have to find that out first before moving closer." Shejas stated.

"Agreed."

One of the engineers walked into the cockpit and said, "Pilot, Manrica said that he saw a good clearing to the west. Here are the coordinates." The man held out a datapad, which Shejas took, nodding to the man in thanks. He connected the datapad to the navigation systems, and waited for the confirmation. The console beeped, with a green light turning on and Shejas pushed a button.

"Heading to that clearing" he muttered to no one in particular.

The shuttle flew low over the forest. After a few minutes of flying, the Lambda hovered over the clearing, its wings folding up for the landing. The shuttle gently set down on the ground and the ramp lowered. Shejas leaned back and said, "Alright, boss, another smooth landing."

"Right."

Tray left the cockpit and found his squad standing in the main room. "Since we're to blend in, we'll have to ditch our uniforms and weapons."

"What?!" Trio exclaimed. "No way! I'm not leaving my weapon and armor behind!" The heavy trooper took an aggressive stance and said, "If you want me to leave it behind, then you'll have to take it from me!"

Taddrei quickly stood between Tray and Trio, holding up his hands defensively. "Trio, calm down…The Faunus have never heard of the Empire before. Think about it. How will the people react to seeing fully armed soldiers from a military they've never seen or heard of before?"

"I'm not ditching my gear!"

"Then don't go!" Tray roared, interrupting the argument. "If you are not going to part with your equipment, then stay with the ship! Renbra's already staying, and the non-combatants of the team may need some protection if we're found by the Faunus."

The rest of the squad stiffened on hearing the intensity behind Tray's words. "Fine. I'll stay here." Trio relaxed his stance, with Taddrei also backing down. Trio glared at Tray under his helmet, with the former officer narrowing his eyes at the trooper. _He's not a coward, I'll give him that._ Trio thought, looking away from Tray and walking to another part of the shuttle.

Tray looked at the rest of the squad. "Renbra, I already told you that you can stay here, so you are dismissed," he said, with a nod from the soldier. "As for the rest of you, we'll be splitting up into two groups with me and Taddrei as the leaders. Soltrev and Katlin, you're with me. Manrica and Brenver, you two will go with Taddrei," he continued, with nods of affirmation from the squad members. "My group will be in charge of finding any parts that might work, as well as seeing if we can secure some of that Dust stuff that Ral told us about. Taddrei, your group is to secure funding to buy what we need. Once we have the parts, we'll take them to the engineers and hopefully, we can get our communications working again, which in turn will allow us to send a message to the _Equinox_. Since we don't know exactly where the locals are, technologically speaking, we're going to have to find clothing that the locals would wear. Once we find some proper clothes, we're coming back here to drop off our weapons and uniforms. Let's go."

 _Why am I the leader?_ Taddrei thought. _I was just a Private before we deserted._

They headed for the shuttle's ramp, waiting for it to lower; then filing out quickly.

"For now, we'll stick together. We'll split up once we reach Atlas with more normal clothing." Tray ordered, reaching for his replacement blaster. The squad of six swiftly moved through the forest toward their intended destination. _Hopefully we'll get there before nightfall._ Tray thought.

A quiet howl went off in the distance. "Double time, guys." Tray ordered, with the group running through the forest. As they ran, they heard the howling fading until it was barely heard. "I think we lost them." Taddrei said with relief.

"We should've brought Trio." Katlin said.

"He didn't want to go, so I'm not going to make him." Tray replied.

"But surely his skill set would work well with these Grimm. You saw how he dealt with one of the Beowulves a few hours ago."

Tray sighed and said, "We also had a Jedi with us. I highly doubt that we would probably even be alive right now if we hadn't met Ral."

"True, but you cannot deny that Trio is a skilled fighter." Katlin retorted.

"Trio's combat skill has never been in question, Katlin. His attitude on the other hand is…questionable. I can't help but doubt that he always used to be like this. Any other officer in the Empire would have him discharged, or even executed for insubordination or something stupid like that." Tray neutrally replied.

"You are going to report his behavior?" Katlin challenged.

"What's the point? We're not a military anymore. Not officially. Besides, while he may make an ass of himself, he hasn't actually broken any orders, or actually attacked any of us."

Katlin slowly nodded her head, satisfied for now. _At least Tray doesn't seem to hate him simply for speaking his mind._ she thought.

"Halt! You are trespassing on Atlas military property! Turn back and we will pretend this never happened!" a voice loudly announced, making all the squad members ready their blasters in various directions. Before they knew it, a large group of soldiers surrounded the group. A quick head estimate had Tray counting twenty soldiers surrounding them, with a very real possibility of more being hidden in the forest.

Seeing that the former Imperials did not seem to be standing down, the voice from before groaned. "Ah, so it's going to go down that way, huh? Drop your weapons and put your hands behind your heads! You have ten seconds!" he yelled.

"We should do as he says, Tray. The last thing we need is pissing off the military." Taddrei whispered.

"Ten!"

Katlin turned her head to Tray and said, "I agree with Taddrei. Hopefully, they'll just have a few questions and let us go."

"Nine!"

"And if we don't?" Tray asked. "We could possibly be handing over technology that will advance these people by who knows how many years."

"Eight!" 

"If we set our blasters to stun, they might just think it's a prototype." Taddrei whispered.

"Seven!"

"Personally, I think we should just run for it." Soltrev piped in.

"Six!"

"I can tell you right now that those blasters of theirs look like they pack quite a punch." Manrica pointed out, tilting his head to the weapons of the Atlas soldiers.

"Five!"

"What if we just pretend that we're part of a clandestine organization with advanced technology?" Brenver suggested.

"Four!"

"No…that sounds stupid. I highly doubt they'd believe us anyway." Katlin scoffed.

"Three!"

"Put down your weapons, everyone. Just do what they say," Tray said loudly. He leaned towards his squad and whispered, "Setblasterstostun."

Taddrei and Soltrev looked at Tray in confusion, but on seeing the others changing the power output of their blasters, quickly followed their squad's example.

On seeing the weapons being put down on the ground, with their hands slowly settling behind their heads, some of the Atlas soldiers cautiously approached them. As the soldiers approached, the team took note of their uniforms, most notably, the helmet. They covered the entire head, but for some reason, left the lower part of the face exposed. The Atlas soldiers also seemed to be sizing up Tray and his team.

As the soldiers grabbed their hands, put them behind their backs and put what felt like cuffs on their wrists, Taddrei spoke up. "Just to clarify, we were just heading for Atlas. Had we known that a military—"

"Shut up, robot." the soldier behind Taddrei interrupted, lightly pushing the stormtrooper. Tray slightly opened his mouth to speak, but on seeing Taddrei's treatment, closed it. _What's a robot?_ he thought as he and his team were led away.

As the soldiers left the clearing, one of them stopped. He looked back to the clearing and re-entered it. His eyes scanned the clearing for a few seconds before he turned around and followed the rest of the soldiers. "Could've sworn I heard something." he muttered as he left.

"Tray? Tray?! Come in! Where are you?! Tray!" the muffled voice of Shejas panicked over Tray's comm that lay on the ground.

Back in the cockpit of the Lambda shuttle, Shejas couldn't help but feel a growing sense of panic festering inside of him. "Tray?! Answer me, dammit!"

Renbra and Trio entered the cockpit. Trio grabbed Shejas' right shoulder and roughly pulled on it. "Zabrak! Quit yelling!"

Renbra grabbed Trio's hand and pulled it off of Shejas, with the Zabrak rubbing at his nearly dislocated shoulder, muttering curses in his native language.

Renbra slightly pushed Trio away from Shejas and said, "First off, is your shoulder okay, did Tray contact us, and is he alright?"

"Ow…Not really. He did contact us, but I don't know what happened. I picked up his call, but there's nothing on the other end of the line." Shejas replied.

"That's odd."

"Yeah. Tell me about it. I've known Tray for a long time, and he's not the kind of guy to just leave people hanging on a call."

"Hmm…If that's the case, than he and the others might be in trouble."

Shejas rolled his shoulder to see if it was okay and said, "Probably. It could just be that he accidentally turned it on though."

"That too, I guess."

Feeling the pain already beginning to fade, Shejas figured that his shoulder was okay and leaned down, reaching for a hidden compartment underneath the controls of the shuttle.

"Shejas, what are you doing?"

Shejas turned back around and stood up, an EE-3 blaster rifle in his hands. Renbra took a closer look at the blaster and could see that it had some modifications. He wasn't completely sure of the inner workings of the blaster, but he could tell that the stock was shorter, as well as the barrel. Honestly, it looked like a blaster pistol more than it did a rifle. His quick look-over of the weapon done, he also took note of the Zabrak putting on a helmet. It wasn't a full helmet like his and Trio's, but it seemed to have small seams for the visor to fold into the helmet.

"You look ready for war, despite having only a helmet for armor." Renbra joked. The Zabrak's visor disappeared into the helmet, a smirk on his face as he pulled part of his flight jacket to the side, showing metal plating that had Trio's shoulders slump in what looked like surprise.

"No. Way…Is that—?"

"Mandalorian armor? Yes, but it's not mine. It belonged to my father. He gave it to me shortly after I graduated from the Imperial Academy."

"You mean to tell me that I've known a Mandalorian this whole time?!" Trio said in shock.

"I'm not a warrior, if that's what you're asking. About being considered a Mandalorian by blood, you'd be correct…Di'kute." Shejas replied, barely hiding a cheeky grin on insulting Trio at the end.

"Wha…Why you—!"

"Trio, enough fanboying over the Mandalorian Zabrak, we are going to find out what's wrong with Tray and his team." Renbra said sternly, grabbing the pack on Trio's back and dragging him away from Shejas. The stormtroopers entered the 'armory' of the shuttle, with Renbra finally letting go of Trio's pack.

"Since we're not completely sure what caused Tray to lose contact, I'd get something other than that staff of yours."

Trio grinned under his helmet and instantly walked over to the heavy blasters. He looked at some of them, but settled on a T-21 anti-tank blaster. "After seeing that Beowulf thing last so long against my staff, I figured, 'Hey, why not see how they stand against blasters meant for tanks?'" Trio said when he saw the looks that Shejas and Renbra were giving him. The two others looked at each other before shrugging.

"Sounds like fun, to be honest." Shejas said, grabbing a T-21 of his own and strapping it on his back.

Renbra rolled his eyes and said, "Might as well." before walking over and grabbing the last T-21. As he strapped it on his back, he said, "We're definitely not going to hear the end of this if Tray didn't really need help."

"Ah, he'll probably be touched that we came to help him." Shejas jokingly replied, leaving the armory. On their way to the ramp, a few of the non-combatants gave the three weird looks, but didn't seem to question the fact that they almost looked ready for war.

The ramp lowered and the three quickly ran down the ramp, with it raising back up as soon as their feet left it. As the three disappeared into the forest, Shejas had a few thoughts going around his head; the most prominent being, _Whatever's going on, Tray, I hope you're okay…_

Trio didn't care too much for Tray, but he'll be damned if he let his cousin fall in harm's way. _I may be a bit of a dick to the others, but Taddrei's just about the only family I have left. There's no way I'm just going to let him go without a fight._

Renbra was still somewhat perturbed by the events of the Nevermore's chase, but he shook those thoughts out of his head. _Just remember your training—both Empire and what you got at Kamino._

Shejas looked at a small tracker on his wrist and activated it. "This'll take us straight to Tray's comm unit. Hopefully, we can figure out where he went from there."

"You certainly seem…prepared." Renbra mused, leaping over a fallen log and right on top of a Beowulf.

"Ahaah!" he yelled, quickly bringing up his blaster and firing on the beast while back away from it.

The Beowulf whipped around in confusion at the sudden attack, but its eyes quickly settled on Renbra. It growled and charged at the stormtrooper. Shejas and Trio quickly aimed their heavy blasters at the Beowulf and opened fire.

Let it be said that anti-tank blasters on a large, unarmored target…leave an unrecognizable lump of flesh.

Shejas and Trio exchanged looks and even though they could not see each other's faces past the helmets, one could almost see their wide eyes behind the visors.

"This. Is. Awesome!" Shejas yelled.

Renbra blinked a few times to make sure that he actually saw what he thought he did. Once he was convinced he did not just imagine things, he quickly strapped his E-11 blaster to his leg and reached for the T-21 on his back. _With the three of us using these, any Grimm we come across will become mincemeat!_ he thought, a ghost of a wicked smile under his helmet.

The three heard a sound behind them as a much larger Beowulf stalked out of the bushes, growling menacingly. They exchanged looks before all grinning under their helmets and aiming at the Grimm.

"Wait for it…" Shejas said jokingly as the Grimm started to speed up in its unknowing suicide run.

"Wait for it…"

The Beowulf leapt toward them, it's eyes glistening in blood lust.

"Now!"

Three shots went off simultaneously. Three shots hit the Beowulf. Thee pieces of Beowulf hit the ground. Three people walked away.

These things are amazing! Why didn't we get these instead of E-11's?" Renbra laughed.

"Probably because it wouldn't have been fair to the Rebels, and these things are quite expensive," Shejas replied, his foot getting caught in a bush. "Ach. Hold on." he said, letting go of his blaster, letting it dangle by the shoulder straps. as he pulled parts of the bush away from his leg and freed his foot.

The Zabrak quickly freed his leg from the bush, but a small glint caught Trio's eye. He looked back at it and saw that part of the pant-leg was slightly pulled up, revealing what definitely was not armor. _A mechanical leg?_ he thought, deciding against questioning Shejas in favor of moving forward.

A few minutes later, Shejas looked back at his wrist. "We should be coming up on Tray's comm signal. It looks like it's in that clearing up ahead."

"Has it moved at all?" Renbra asked.

"From when it first called me? No…Not really."

"Then he probably dropped it." Trio lowly growled.

The three entered the clearing to see that it was completely empty except for them. "Huh. Where is everybody?" Shejas asked no on in particular.

They walked around the clearing for a bit, wondering what could've happened until Renbra saw something on the ground. He kneeled down and picked it up. "Found Tray's comm." he called out, with Trio and Shejas jogging over to him.

"Well…That's odd. Considering how long it took us to get here, Tray would've found out he dropped his comm and come back for it about…ten minutes ago." Shejas mused.

"How do you know that?" 

"Tray's a little slow, but somehow always finds out if he forgot or dropped something."

"Alright, so we found his comm. What now?" Trio asked impatiently.

"We go that way." Renbra said, pointing in what looked like a random direction.

"And why should we go that way?" Trio challenged.

"Because there are a lot of footprints going that way?" Renbra suggested, with Trio looking down at the grass.

"They were captured?" Shejas asked.

"Maybe. It could just be that they found a trail which would—"

"Which would lead them to people." Shejas finished, getting a blank look from Renbra.

"So we follow the trail…And we _might_ find the others." Trio concluded.

"Pretty much. There's always the chance that they went a different direction though, so we'll have to take that into account if we don't find them.

"What if we contacted someone else on the team? Couldn't you track them, Shejas?" Renbra asked.

"Let's assume they _were_ captured. Would you really want to risk whoever took them knowing that there are others looking for their captives?" Shejas replied. He then looked over his tracker and muttered, "though perhaps a quick call and hangup could give me just enough to track them."

"Let's do that. It'll ensure that we find them sooner, rather than later." Trio stated.

Shejas nodded and said, "Know any of them that would have a comm like Tray's?"

"Taddrei was the team leader, so he'll probably have one." Trio answered.

"Alright, contacting Taddrei's comm; hanging up on Taddrei's comm…And we are good to go," the Zabrak proudly announced. He looked at his tracker and then looked up. "Hmm…They _did_ go that way, Renbra." The three then continued moving forward, following Shejas' lead.

 **You know, I was considering adding more to this chapter, but I couldn't really find a good enough way to transition for the scene change, so I guess the next chapter will have to do. See you guys next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

13

 **Here's a new chapter. Enjoy!**

 **I do not own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 6: Breaking and Entering**

Tray did not know what exactly happened, but he found himself slowly waking up in a very uncomfortable chair.

"Start talking." a voice said, bringing Tray to full awareness. He looked down to see his hands cuffed to a table just in front of him. _Interrogation room…_ he thought, looking around the room. He looked down at himself and felt slight relief. _At least they didn't strip off my clothes._ he thought.

"I said, Start. Talking." the voice repeated with an icy, venomous tone.

"About what?" Tray responded, looking for the source of the voice. _That voice sounds like whoever's talking has a voice-changer. Probably to hide emotions in his voice._ he thought.

"For starters, what were you and your…robots doing so far out from Atlas?"

 _What's a robot?_ "…We were heading toward Atlas." Tray replied. _I'll have to think carefully. I'll have to get as close to the truth as possible to keep my story lined up better with the others. I just hope they do the same thing._ he thought.

"Heading to Atlas." the voice mumbled, seemingly taking notes. Tray took another quick glance around the room and saw a mirror. _Must be a two-way mirror._ he thought.

"If you were heading for Atlas, do you live there, or have you been living out in the wild?" the voice asked.

"I don't live in Atlas. I'm an explorer of a sort." Tray replied. _Technically, as a survey team, we are also exploring Remnant a little bit._ he thought.

"Suspect is a vagabond." the voice muttered, making Tray frown a little, but quickly straighten his face. _Whoever's doing this is probably doing that to get a rise out of me. I'll just have to keep calm._ he thought.

"Okay, so you were heading to Atlas on foot—despite not living there. Why?"

"Our communications had been damaged in a Grimm attack, and we need some parts for repairs." Tray answered. _That is probably the closest I'll get to the full truth._

"If you travel from place to place, why have communications other than a Scroll?" the voice asked, mostly likely with a smirk on the interrogator's face.

"Even vagabonds can have a place to come back to. Just because I travel a lot does not make me homeless; it's just outside of the kingdoms." Tray answered.

The voice was silent for a bit before muttering something that Tray couldn't hear. "Very well, you need parts to fix your communications. If you needed that, then why do you not have a Scroll?"

Tray blinked a few times, trying to look like he was unaware of not knowing what a Scroll was. "I…must've dropped it somewhere."

"Perhaps you should be more careful as to not lose them from now on. I can't help but think that it is highly convenient that you 'forgot' it."

"Call it what you will, I don't have it with me."

"Fine. Now…tell us about your robots and weaponry." the voice said confidently, as if sure that whoever it was could find a gap in Tray's story.

"They aren't robots. They are humans, just like you and me." Tray stated.

"Than explain this to me: scans of your friends has shown us that one of them has extensive mechanical enhancements. Do you know which of your friends has them?" the voice asked, and Tray, again, feeling the smirk on his interrogator.

Tray sat at his table, desperately racking his brain for who could be a cyborg in his squad. _Come on, Tray, just take a guess! Wait…How would they know our names?_

"Am I the first to wake up?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here. Now…do you know which of your companions is almost completely mechanical in nature? If so, what is it: An earlier model—a prototype, even?"

"Neither. He is human. He's just gotten cybernetic enhancements for reasons I have not been told. Perhaps he received a large number of severe injuries over his life. He might have even done it simply for the advantages they bring." Tray said.

"But you still have not told me his name."

Tray frowned and said, "If you want to know his name so badly, why don't you ask _him_ instead of me?"

"…Suspect does not know the names of his companions."

Tray clenched his teeth, but quickly relaxed and listed the names of the squad that went with him. "Taddrei, Brenver, Soltrev, Manrica, and Katlin. My name is Tray."

"Suspect—Tray—actually does know the names of his companions, but seems to be unaware of their personal lives." the voice muttered.

"Their personal lives are their own! Look, had we known that we would be heading for a military base, we would've taken a different route to enter Atlas."

"And then what? Shoot at us with those ray guns of yours? Where did you even get weapons like that?" the voice spat.

 _They've already tested them?!_ Tray thought, fearing that the locals may soon discover the true firing mode of their blasters.

"They are experimental weapons that a friend of mine designed. He made them to send a pulse of energy that can stun Grimm."

"Interesting…" the voice muttered. "What if this…pulse were to hit a smaller target?"

"You can set the stun for a weaker charge for smaller targets." Tray explained.

"I see." the voice mused.

"Now would you please explain the armor of—" the voice said, but suddenly stopped. "Released? Since when? Just now?…But I'm not…Yes sir."

Tray cocked an eyebrow, wondering what was going on behind the two-way mirror. "You're being transferred to more suitable quarters apparently." the voice said. The only door into the room opened, with two soldiers entering the room. Tray raised an eyebrow on seeing a woman enter the room, seemingly having just come from the two-way mirror.

"During your stay here, I am assigned to watch over you. You may be getting transferred to better quarters, but you will be under house arrest until this situation gets cleared up, no matter the decision of the higher ups."

Tray nodded and said, "Always up to them, isn't it."

The corners of the woman's lips tugged up for a second before settling back to a neutral level. "Indeed." She looked at one of the Atlas soldiers and tilted her head toward Tray, with the soldier walking over to him and unlocking his cuffs.

Tray slightly rubbed at his wrists. _Must've been out a little longer than I thought. That, and these cuffs seem to be just metal, not what the rest of the galaxy uses._ he thought as he followed Winter out of the room, the two soldiers walking just behind him.

"Since you're now considered a guest of sorts, proper introductions are in order," the woman said, gesturing to herself. "I am Winter Schnee."

Tray slightly bowed his head and offered a small smile. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Schnee. I am Tray." _Just go with it, Tray. She does not look like she believes much in second chances, so don't push your luck with her._

"I apologize for my men knocking you out and bringing you here in chains, but it was necessary until the commander of the base could make a decision." Winter said, nodding at a few soldiers that offered curt salutes as they passed.

 _She's been assigned to watch me while under house arrest, soldiers are saluting her, yet she refers to higher ups. She must be high-ranking, but probably not a general. Perhaps a Major?_ Tray thought as he slightly looked around, trying to move his head as little as possible.

"What of my s…companions?" Tray asked, almost slipping out the word 'squad.'

"They will be taken to the room that we are currently heading for once they regain consciousness." Winter answered.

Tray took note of the way that Winter walked. She walked with absolute authority, yet at the same time, she seemed ready for combat at a moment's notice. _Perhaps she is more like a member of the 501st Legion? Sure, they answered only to Vader, but they were the best of the best. They earned their place, and were highly respected by others in the Empire._ Tray thought. He looked around a little bit before looking at the back of Winter's head. _I wonder why her hair is so…white. It's not old person hair, yet it looks…natural._ he absently thought.

 _It certainly adds a certain element of beauty, wouldn't you say?_ an absent thought said, making Tray quickly shut down THAT train of thought.

Tray was brought out of his thoughts by a buzzing sound in front of him. Winter pulled out a small device that looked like a blocky comm unit from Tray's point of view, but he wasn't completely sure. These people could very well have very different terms for technology than what he was used to. To Tray's confusion, Winter held the device to her ear and said, "Yes, what is it?…Yes, he is being escorted to his room as we speak…What do you mean, 'he just walked in'?!…I'm on my way," Winter seemed to 'close' the device and looked at the two soldiers, "You two, make sure that this man gets to his room and then guard the door. I have other business to attend to."

"We'll get it done, sir." the soldier to Tray's right said with a voice that sounded surprisingly familiar.

"See that you do." Winter said, before curtly turning around and walking back in the direction they came from.

As Winter walked away, the soldiers suddenly led Tray down a hallway that felt…off.

A soldier wearing armor with red-markings approached them from the other direction, waving them toward him. "What are you two doing with this man? His new quarters are that way."

"Oh…Sorry, sir. We've been newly transferred to this base, so we don't know the layout that well." the soldier to Tray's left said, his voice also sounding very familiar.

"Atlas bases are built with the same layout to avoid this very issue. I'm going to have to see some ID." the soldier ordered, holding out his hand.

Tray noticed the two soldiers exchange looks before the larger one rammed the butt of his rifle into the red soldier's face, knocking the man senseless. Tray stared in confusion at what just happened until the larger soldier took off his helmet and pulled out a familiar staff. "Trio? Is that you?" Tray asked.

"In the flesh." Trio said with a smirk.

"You're…uh…not what I was expecting." Tray stated.

"What? Were you expecting a battle-hardened face?" Trio asked, his smirk growing slightly larger. Looking at Trio's face for the first time show Tray that he probably didn't know his squad as well as he thought. Trio's face was mostly unspectacular, with short brown hair, brown eyes, and slight stubble on his face.

"Since we're doing face reveals, might as well." the other soldier said, pulling off his helmet.

"Renbra?" Tray asked.

"Yes sir," Renbra reached into one of the pouches on the clearly stolen Atlas uniform and handed Tray his comm. "You dropped this. It's how we found out you needed help."

Tray took his comm and put it in one of the pockets of his uniform, taking extra care to make sure it wouldn't fall back out.

"Tray, you might want to see if that guy's uniform is in your size. Goodness knows we had to go through like, five people to find a uniform in Trio's size." Renbra said, looking around the corner of the hallway to make sure no one was coming.

Tray looked at the red-armored soldier and kneeled over his unconscious form. "Well…we _were_ looking for clothes that would fit in. Perhaps Atlas' soldiers wear their uniforms wherever they go, just like the Empire's troops do."

"Let's hope so." Renbra said as Tray began to remove the soldier's uniform and try putting it on.

"Hrhm. Lucky first try," Trio grumbled when Tray finished putting on the uniform to find that it fit him quite well. "I had to squeeze into this uniform, and I'm afraid that something will rip if I bend down too far."

"As long as it doesn't get in the way, you'll be fine," Tray said as he put on the helmet. He blinked a few times when what looked like some sort of heads-up display turned on, showing a small map of what he assumed to be the base among other things. "Do your helmets have a map of some sort of display?" he asked. Renbra and Trio both shook their heads in response to the question. "Well, this helmet seems to have a map."

"We should go see if we can free the others and get your weapons back. That map should make it easier to find them." Renbra said.

"That's what I was thinking." Tray replied. _I just have to figure out what else this armor has in store._ he thought as he walked back to the detention block. _Hopefully the others are here._

As Tray and the others walked toward the detention blocks, a few soldiers in the much more common blue armor saluted him, saying, "Lieutenant." as he passed. _Hmm…Guess the original owner of this armor was a Lieutenant too._ Tray thought before the door to the detention blocks opened, only for a group of other soldiers to be in the room as well. _Blast. What do we do? I don't want to start killing anyone, but…unless something happens, we might have to._ he thought.

Another soldier in red armor noticed Tray and offered a crisp salute. "Lieutenant, what brings you here? I wasn't aware that you would be inspecting this sector of the base today."

"Surprise inspection." Tray replied, hoping that whatever was going on would not go wrong.

"Well, I assure you that the prison cells are in tip-top shape, sir. The prisoners are also being treated according to regulations. Follow me, sir." the soldier said, leading Tray, Renbra, and Trio toward the cells. _This might actually work._ Tray thought, on seeing that there were far fewer soldiers around the cells.

The red soldier stopped at the first cell and said, "The prisoner in this cell was recently moved to better accommodations; but the rest of the group that was with him are still confined to their cells until they wake up."

 _That was my cell._ Tray thought, trying not to smile at the fact that the soldier was talking about him.

"I'm sure that you have spoken with Specialist Schnee about the infiltrators?" the red soldier asked.

"She was in a rush when I was informed. Do you know anything about it?" Tray asked.

"That's odd. You're usually well-informed, sir. Anyway, someone found a pile of our own on a perimeter patrol—all of them unconscious with parts of their uniforms stripped off." 

"Has anyone found the ones responsible?" Tray asked, resisting the urge to smile at what was going on.

"There's more than one?" the soldier asked in surprise.

"We're not completely sure, but considering how many of us were knocked unconscious, it's highly unlikely that this is the work of just one spy." Tray replied, knowing that two of the 'spies' were right behind him.

"The White Fang have a few highly-skilled operatives, but I doubt they'd risk more than one of them on…whatever they're doing here." the soldier said as Tray pretended to inspect the cells.

When they reached the last cell, Tray noticed that all of the squad that went with him were lying on the floor. He peered into the room and said, "I think one of them is coming to. Go check them out." he ordered to the soldier.

"Uh…yes sir."

The soldier opened the cell door and walked in, looking over the unconscious stormtroopers. Seeing that the soldier was busy looking at his squad, Tray quietly walked up behind the Atlas soldier. "Good night." he whispered, wrapping one arm around the soldier's neck, and clamping the other over his mouth to keep him silent. The soldier squirmed for a good while, trying to free himself from his stranglehold, but Tray's grip was firm. Slowly, the man's struggle lessened as he began to lose consciousness. Once the man grew still, Tray let go of him and carefully set him down on the ground—checking his pulse to ensure that he was still alive.

On feeling a pulse, Tray stood up and walked over to his squad, gently shaking the first one. "Wake up. Come on, wake up!"

The stormtrooper stirred and slowly rolled over, groaning as he did. "Uh…what? Who?"

Trio knelt down and violently shook the stormtrooper. "Wake up, Taddrei!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay! Okay! I'm up!" Taddrei shouted, quickly standing up. The stormtrooper stared at his fellow ex-Imperials in disguise and said, "Trio? That you?"

"Yeah. Don't get used to seeing me in this." Trio spat, tugging at his uncomfortable uniform.

"So…Who are these two?" Taddrei asked.

"Tray and Renbra. Shejas is waiting outside of this base, keeping our escape route to the forest clear…I hope." Trio answered, shaking one of the others awake.

Once the others were awakened, Taddrei spoke up. "Uh…What do we about these bindings?" he asked, holding up his cuffed hands. "These aren't exactly comfortable."

"The guard might have some keys." Soltrev suggested.

Tray knelt over the unconscious guard and searched for anything resembling a key, but didn't find anything. "Nothing." Tray announced, with a quiet groan coming from Taddrei and Brenver.

"Ah, we don't need keys." Manrica said, holding up his hands with his handcuffs falling off.

Tray stared at the stormtrooper and managed a ,"H-How…?"

"Trade secret."

"Uh…right."

Manrica quickly went to work on the rest of the squad's cuffs until one by one, they clicked open and slipped off their hands.

"Seriously, you gotta show us how you did that." Soltrev said as Manrica started working on his cuffs.

As Soltrev was pulling off his cuffs, an Atlas soldier walked around the doorway and said, "You've been in there a while sir. Is everything…all…right?" The entire squad looked at the soldier, with everyone freezing up entirely.

"Security! We have a prison—!" the soldier suddenly yelled, getting cut off by Trio ramming into him.

"Dang. Too late." Trio muttered, as the sound of footsteps quickly approached.

"Try not to kill anyone, but do what you have to!" Tray ordered, readying his rifle.

The first Atlas soldier ran into the cell with what looked like a short vibrosword in each hand. Trio quickly pulled out his electrostaff and engaged the soldier.

"What the! Traitor!" the soldier yelled before Trio jabbed his staff into the man's chest, knocking him down to the ground.

"Nope." Trio replied when the soldier stopped moving.

A few more soldiers tried to break into the cell, but were quickly either knocked out or pushed out of the cell. "We're going to have to find a way out of this, or this cell will be our grave!" Katlin yelled as she knelt down and picked up one of the unconscious soldier's swords and tossed it to Taddrei.

"Don't let up, men! They won't be getting out of that cell!" one of the soldiers shouted from outside the cell.

"We gotta get out of here before reinforcements show up!" Soltrev said.

"I got this." Taddrei said, pulling out a thermal detonator from a hidden compartment in his armor.

"Taddrei, no! We're not going to kill them!" Tray ordered.

Taddrei shoved another soldier to the ground, quickly knocking him out. "I don't like it either, sir, but we're not getting out of here alive if we don't do _something_!" he yelled, priming the powerful explosive and throwing it out of the cell.

"Grenade! Get back!" a voice yelled just before the thermal detonated, shaking the cell block, more than likely hurting or even killing some of the guards.

"Go!" Tray yelled, sending a look to Taddrei before running out of the cell.

"Don't let them get away!" a soldier yelled, firing a few shots at them.

Trio turned around and wildly fired a few shots before whirling back around.

One of the Atlas soldiers aimed at Trio and fired at him.

"Gah!" Trio grunted, clutching at his right shoulder. He grit his teeth before yelling, "Lucky shot!" before gunning down the soldier that shot him.

"Trio! Forget them and just run!" Tray shouted, tugging at his unwounded shoulder.

The ex-Imperials ran toward a door with an exit sign above it and slammed it shut. Trio found a loose piece of metal and quickly barred the door with it. "That'll slow 'em down."

"Security! We have escaped prisoners! They just left the cell block!" a muffled voice yelled from the other side of the door.

The group ran down the halls of the base, before Katlin spoke up. "We should probably forget about our weapons. We don't know this base's layout, so we'll just get lost."

"Tray has a map." Renbra replied.

"Well, that's handy."

"There's an armory just ahead. Our weapons might be there." Tray stated.

"And if they're not?" Renbra asked.

"We just might have to leave them behind."

They reached the door to the armory and Trio kicked it down, and spun out of the way for Renbra to grab what they figured out was a smoke grenade into the room. Once the smoke covered the room, the squad filed into the room, quickly taking down the few Atlas soldiers in the armory. Trio was about to take down one of the soldier, but the man slammed his fist into an alarm button, alerting the base to their location.

"Blast it! We don't have much time!" Trio yelled, quickly scanning over the armory for their E-11 blasters.

"Found em!" Manrica yelled, wrapping all of them in his arms and handing them out to the squad.

"Keep your blasters on stun." Tray ordered when he noticed Soltrev and Katlin changing the blaster setting, with the two begrudgingly changing it back to stun.

"You're really big on the 'no killing' thing right now." Trio muttered as they left the armory.

Tray ignored the heavy trooper's comment and said, "Renbra, you and Trio broke in; you two lead the way.

"You're the one with the map, sir." Renbra replied.

"I'll be right behind you."

"There they are!" an Atlas soldier yelled, firing at the Imperials who quickly found small cover spots, firing their blasters.

"What the—!" a voice yelled when the stun rays hit a few of the soldiers.

"Go! Go!" Tray yelled when the last soldier was stunned.

They ran from the downed soldiers and turned the corner just as more Atlas personnel found the unconscious soldiers.

"Spread out and find them! They can't have gone far!"

"Shejas has left an escape route open just ahead, so we just need to meet up with him and we're good as gone." Renbra announced as they entered what looked like a warehouse.

"I think not." a cold voice said. Ahead of the group stood Winter with fifteen soldiers behind her that had unique markings on their armor.

 _Uh-oh…Not good._ Tray thought, his eyes drifting down to the sword in her hand.

"Out of the way, girl. We don't want to hurt you." Trio said, making Winter frown.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" Winter replied holding her sword at the ready.

"Ugh…You better be more of a challenge than the rest." Trio groaned as he dropped the rifle he picked up from his infiltration and pulled out his electrostaff, extending it to its full length.

"Interesting weapon." Winter commented.

"I'll handle this one." Trio growled, leaping toward Winter, who only stood her ground as the uniquely-armored soldiers took cover at various points around the warehouse and then opened fire on the rest of the Imperials.

Trio's staff clashed with Winter's sword, followed by two more attempted hits from each fighter.

Winter flipped away from Trio and spared a few seconds to look at Tray. "Stand down now, and we'll let you and your friends live!" she yelled.

"Not gonna happen!" Tray yelled.

"Very well…Kill them." Winter ordered to her soldiers.

In the blink of an eye, the soldiers seemed to have disappeared, only for them to reappear seconds later in front of the squad, swords drawn.

Taddrei rammed the butt of his blaster into the soldier in front of him and backpedaled away from his attacker, only for the man to seem to glide toward him and slash his sword across the surface of the stormtrooper's armor. If Taddrei could've seen the man's eyes, he would have seen the widest possible eyes on a human's face before he blasted the man with the stun setting.

"Man down!"

 _He'll be fine._ Taddrei thought as he started firing at the soldier's attacking his squad mates.

Winter watched the battle, but looked in the direction of heavy footsteps rapidly approaching.

"Raaaah!" Trio roared as he swung his staff, only for Winter to expertly block the staff.

 _Why isn't the staff electrifying her weapon?!_ Trio thought, growling as he spun around, bringing the other end of his staff toward Winter as he did.

"Interesting fighting style." Winter cooly commented.

Trio said nothing, continuing his assault.

Winter continued to dodge or block all of Trio's attacks before leaping away once more. "For one who has clearly not been trained at a Hunter academy, you fight quite well," she complimented, offering a small smile to convey her honesty. Trio growled and changed his grip on the staff so that he had more reach. Winter's smile disappeared, and her eyes narrowed. "But I'm afraid to tell you that I'm done playing games."

"Don't underestimate me." Trio warned.

"I have not. I am simply stating the facts…You cannot defeat me." Winter said, whirling her sword in her hand before a strange white glow appeared behind her, with a large circular symbol phasing into existence.

Trio's eyes widened when long spears of what looked like ice flew from the symbol, heading straight toward him. He jumped to the side behind a large crate and saw the spears changing their path to continue chasing him.

 _What kind of Force power is that!?_ Trio thought as he dove out of the ice-spears path once more, only for the spears to bend and change course toward him.

"I'm surprised you could dodge it once, not to mention twice," Winter stated, slightly impressed. "Let's see you dodge this!"

"Oh come on!" Trio yelled when another symbol appeared, this time with larger and faster ice-spears hurtling toward the heavy trooper.

Trio felt a small amount of fatigue when he just barely avoided Winter's strange power for the third time. _I have to get close to get her to stop,_ he thought. He jumped to dodge a fourth barrage of spears and sprinted toward the strange woman.

Winter crouched down as another symbol appeared before she shot into the air.

Trio felt a vein pop in his forehead and yelled, "Are you kidding me?! Come back here and fight, you coward!"

Winter remained silent and formed another spear, but the spear shattered when a red laser pierced it.

Trio and Winter looked at the source to see Tray aiming his blaster at Winter. He and the rest of the squad were standing near a door way, the same one that Trio and Renbra used to enter the base the first time. "Come on, Trio! Run for it!" Tray yelled as he fired at Winter, who instantly took cover.

Trio shook his head and yelled, "We're having a rematch the next time we meet!" before running toward Tray.

Winter sped toward the group of Imperials, grabbing the hilt of her sword with both hands and splitting it apart into two separate swords.

Trio reached the group and Taddrei pulled out another thermal detonator. "Last one." he said as he primed it and dropped it where he stood and quickly ran away.

Winter nearly slipped trying to stop, but managed to dive to safety before the detonator exploded, collapsing the doorway and cutting Winter off from the Imperials.

"Well…that'll hold her." Taddrei muttered as he turned around and ran after his squad.

As they left the base, more of the uniquely-armored soldiers appeared and began firing at them, only for blaster fire to shoot out from the nearby tree line. "Come on, over here!" Shejas yelled, coming out from the trees with a T-21 blaster in his hands.

One of the soldiers got hit by the T-21, but to Shejas' shock, the man didn't get split in two by the anti-tank blaster. _O…kay._ he thought before firing again, again somehow not killing the man. _Rrgh…They probably have shields of some sort._ he thought as the Imperials reached him.

Shejas held out his left hand, and a torrent of fire shot from a small flamethrower mounted on his wrist, setting fire to the forest. _That'll slow em down._ he thought as he turned and ran.

The Atlas soldiers stopped a few feet away from the fire and began backing away on seeing how quickly it was spreading. One of them put a hand to his helmet and said, "We got a fire outside the base! I repeat: we have a fire outside the base!"

"Sir, what about the prisoners?" another soldier asked.

"Forget about them. Running off into the forest like that, the Grimm will get em." the first soldier replied.

"But—"

"That's an order. We need to put out this fire!"

"…Yes sir."

 **Alright. I guess this is as good a place as any to stop. Feel free to tell me what you guy thought. See you in the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**New chapter, so have a nice day! Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 7: The Next Step**

As the ex-Imperials ran through the forest, Tray took note of Shejas' armor. _Huh…haven't seen that in a while._ he thought.

Shejas pulled out a comm and held it to his lips. "Shejas to shuttle crew, anyone back there know how to get it ready to fly?"

"I do." a voice replied over the comm.

"Good. Whoever you are, get it ready. We don't have anyone following us as far as we know, but being cautious can't hurt."

"I'm on it, pilot. The shuttle will be ready to go when you get here." the voice answered.

"Just get it ready for take-off. I'll handle the rest." Shejas said, turning off his comm.

"Are we seriously being followed?" Brenver asked.

"Maybe; maybe not. I'm just doing it as a precaution." Shejas replied.

"Precautions are good."

A low growl reverberated through the forest, followed by a few Beowulves appearing almost out of nowhere. The squad all backed away from the Grimm, opening fire as they did. Shejas, Trio, and Renbra raised their T-21s and fired, literally cutting down the dark creatures.

The rest of the squad stared at the three in amazement. "When we get back to the _Equinox_ , I don't care if I have to steal one, but I'm getting one." Manrica mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go." Trio said dismissively, starting to pick up his pace again.

The squad ran through the forest, blasting any Beowulves in their path as they went. Once they reached the shuttle, the ramp lowered, with the engine revving up.

Shejas tossed his T-21 to Manrica as he headed to the cockpit. "You said you wanted one." he said when he noticed the stormtrooper staring at him.

Shejas entered the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's seat, quickly making the shuttle take off. "Next stop: anywhere but here!" he announced when Tray and Taddrei entered the cockpit.

"Take us back to Ral's cliff. He's got some explaining to do." Tray said.

"Uh…Did I miss something?"

"Yeah. You missed some white-haired woman shooting ice spears out of some sort of symbol thing." Taddrei stated.

"Uh…Okay?"

"We think she used the Force." Tray explained.

"Oh, gotcha…Plotting a course for Ral's Cliffside Home…Hmm, sounds like a nice vacation spot."

Outside of the cockpit, Trio all but collapsed on a chair, clutching at his right shoulder. Katlin noticed this and quickly walked over to him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Trio hissed through his teeth, taking off his helmet. "That wound was worse than I thought. I think fighting that woman might've made it worse."

Katlin reached for her pouch, only to find that her capsules of bacta were missing. _Oh no…I must've left it at the base._ she thought in a small panic.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm out of bacta." Katlin said, wrapping Trio's left arm over her shoulder and helped him stand up "Let's get you to the medbay. There'll be some bacta there."

They entered the medbay and Trio sat on one of the patient cots while Katlin scanned the medical drawers for anything that could help the large trooper.

Katlin pulled out a small bottle and looked at its contents. _Kolto…it'll do._ she thought as she walked over to Trio. "Alright, I'm going to need you to take off…whatever that awful uniform is."

Trio started to pull off parts of the Atlas uniform he stole and showed that he was wearing the black jumpsuit that all Imperial troops wore under their uniforms. Katlin reached for her helmet and pulled it off to see better, showing that like Trio, she was rather plain-looking, with an easily forgettable face.

"It's not bacta, but this kolto should do the trick." Katlin said, pulling out some large scissors.

"Wait, what are you cutting on?"

"I need to cut off the jumpsuit around the wound so I can clean it better and then apply the kolto."

Trio nodded and leaned back to let the medic clean out his wound. "You're very lucky. The filth on your jumpsuit would easily have infected the wound." Katlin commented.

Trio winced as Katlin applied the _very_ cold kolto to his wound and said, "I haven't exactly had a chance to clean it since we got here."

Katlin finished rubbing the kolto across Trio's wounded shoulder and said, "Give the kolto a few minutes to soak into the wound and then you're free to go. Keep in mind that you should also give it a day to help your body seal the wound. Do try to avoid fighting any white-haired women that can shoot ice spears from thin air."

In a briefing room at the Atlas base, a hand slammed down on a table. "Damn it, just tell me how many prisoners escaped and how many men we lost!" Winter yelled.

"Specialist Schnee, we're still running damage control from the fire. Our main munitions storage was burned in that fire, and we lost who knows how many prisoners during the escape. Those strangely-armored prisoners weren't the only people that escaped. We lost Torchwick…again."

Winter scowled at the name and pinched the bridge of her nose."Just…get a report on my desk by the end of the day."

She walked out of the room and entered another shortly after. On seeing a certain group of soldiers, Winter narrowed her eyes at the soldiers that called in the fire and let Tray and his squad get away. "As for you and your squad, Sergeant Jay, you let those prisoners get away."

"Specialist, with all due respect, the fire's proximity to the Dust munitions took priority over a few prisoners. Besides, with the Grimm out there, they won't last very long."

Winter opened her mouth to berate the soldiers, but a man entered the room and everything went still. Everyone in the room stood at attention and saluted the man. "General."

"At ease, everyone. Winter, with me."

"Yes sir."

Winter and the General left the room, the door closing behind them. "What do you need of me, General?"

"I have a mission for you."

"And that is…?" 

"I want you to gather a task force to track down these fugitives. Alert the other kingdoms of these men and give them whatever information they will require for identifying them."

"General Ironwood, is that wise? The media would surely jump to conclusions about the escapees. Combined with the footage of two of our own helping them escape, some of our more…vocal opponents will likely take advantage of this."

"The media does not need to know everything; just that a group of prisoners have escaped and are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. Show them enough footage to give the press all they need to know about how dangerous these individuals are." Ironwood replied.

Winter paused and thought over the General's words. "I'll start gathering a task force at once, sir." she said.

"You can pull men out of Special Forces and the Robotics Divisions if you must, but I am sure that you will use proper judgement for whoever you need for this mission." 

"I will be frugal with whatever resources you allow, General." Winter replied.

"Good. Dismissed."

Winter saluted and turned away from Ironwood.

An hour later, the Imperial shuttle reached Ral's cliffside home and landed at the top of the cliff, with Shejas leaning back in his seat. "I guess this place is our home away from home now."

Tray lightly smiled and said, "I guess so," He left the cockpit and headed for the loading ramp. As he went, he passed by Taddrei and Trio. "You two wanted to talk to Ral the most. You're with me."

Tray exited the shuttle with Trio and Taddrei behind him. As they walked over to the hidden entrance from the top of the cliff-shelter, Ral walked out to meet them.

"Tray? What are you doing back here already? Did you find the parts you were looking for?" the Jedi asked.

"Well…Not exactly." Tray nervously replied.

Ral cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "You ran into trouble and have some questions for me." he stated.

"Yeah, pretty much." Tray sighed.

Ral nodded in understanding and turned around. "Come with me. The Grimm might leave some things like your shuttle alone, but they won't pass us up."

"That Nevermore sure didn't leave us alone." Taddrei muttered.

"Most Grimm aren't intelligent like that particular Nevermore." Ral said over his shoulder as he opened a hidden door.

The four made their way through the cliff until they entered the same office-type room that they informed Ral of their situation not too long ago.

"Start from the beginning. What happened?" Ral said, sitting down in a chair.

"We landed near Atlas, but kept our distance to avoid discovery. We were going to make the rest of the trip on foot, but we apparently stumbled onto an Atlas military base," Tray explained, watching the Jedi for any signs that he would say or do something. Seeing none, Tray continued with his story. "Most of us were captured, but the three, who stayed at the shuttle, were able to track us down to the base and broke us out."

"I'm assuming that something there was said or done to you…gave you many questions?" Ral said, leaning forward in his chair.

"There was a woman we fought during our escape. Trio should probably tell you this part since he's the one that fought her." Tray replied, stepping back to let Trio talk.

"Alright, so we're almost out of the base when this white-haired chick shows up and starts attacking us. Since she was using a sword, I pulled out my staff to deal with her, but she does…something," Trio started, not taking note of Ral leaning further on the short description of Winter. "These weird…circle things show up behind her, out of thin air, and what looked like spears of ice shot out of the circle, straight toward me."

Ral held up a hand to get Trio to stop. "Whoa there. Slow down. What did this woman look like? What was her weapon?"

Tray walked up and lightly pushed Trio away from Ral and said, "Well…she looked like both royalty and a life-long soldier. She had really white hair, but was quite young—probably no older than me. She also had these really cold, light blue eyes." Tray said.

 _She was kind of pretty._ His mind absently slipped before he could stop himself.

Ral nodded and said, "I see. I think I know who you are speaking of, but I am not completely sure. Did you happen to get her name?"

"Winter. Winter Schnee, I think."

"Schnee? Meeting famous people already…Most would pay a lot of money to speak with someone of her position." Ral commented.

"Is she that important in the military?" Tray asked.

"Yes and no. I met her a few years ago on a…private endeavor. She's quite the fighter, but it's not her skill that has made her so well known. It's who happens to be her father."

"Her father is the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company. The SDC as it's more commonly known is the largest distributor of Dust in the world, and has even branched out into other markets such as hygiene, technology, and science."

"Sounds a little bit like the SoruSuub Corporation and Blastech Industries combined." Taddrei whispered to Trio, who nodded in reply.

"Sadly, the SDC has been taking heat for quite some time due to rumors of controversial labor forces and shady business partners among other things. No one has been able to prove whether such things are true, however, so the Schnee Dust Company remains on top."

"Controversial? How so?" Tray asked.

"As long as I've been here, some people believe that SDC employs Faunus slaves in the Dust mines, but no one's been able to prove that they are slaves, or are being forced to work in dangerous situations. Obviously, the Faunus aren't too happy about rumors of enslavement by Humans."

"Wait…Faunus and Humans are different? I thought you said the minority of people on this planet called themselves Faunus and the majority called themselves Humans?" Taddrei asked.

Ral opened his mouth for a second before saying, "Yes, I suppose I didn't explain that very well."

"So what's the difference?" Trio asked.

"The Humans of Remnant are virtually the same as Humans throughout the galaxy. Faunus are quite similar too, but they are easily identified as Faunus because of various animal traits seen in other creatures found on Remnant."

"What kind of animal traits?" Tray asked.

"In most cases, it's the ears or tail of an animal, but some get the teeth or other traits like that. Faunus in some way carry the traits of an animal, but it rarely seems to be more than one attribute of an animal"

"So…animals in human form?" Trio asked.

"That's what some Humans want to think, but it just isn't true. The Faunus are human in every way we are…they just have a little extra."

"So these Faunus are mistreated simply for a small difference?" Taddrei asked in amazement. Sure, the Empire discriminated against most aliens, but ones that looked similar to humans were often not mistreated as much.

"It is sad, but this is the case. A few decades ago, there was even a war between Humans and Faunus."

Trey frowned and said, "Since it sounds like the Faunus are still oppressed, I assume they lost the war?"

"The line between defeat and victory is still hard to see looking back at it. From what I heard, another movement started a bigger war that mostly had the two sides completely drop what they were doing and fight together on this new front."

"Really…?"

"Yes. I believe I told you about it. This war was the reason for the naming tradition on Remnant."

"Ah…that one. Didn't the side that lost fight toward destroying individuality or something?"

Trio rolled his eyes and said, "As lovely as history can be, that's not what we're here for. We're here to ask you what another Jedi is doing on Remnant."

Ral's head quickly turned to the heavy trooper. "Another Jedi?"

"Yes! That Winter woman! She was using the Force!"

Ral looked at Trio for a few seconds before speaking. "If you're talking about that power of hers, that's not the Force."

"It's not? Then what is it?"

"It's called a Semblance."

Trio opened his mouth to ask a question, but Ral cut him off. "A Semblance is rather complex, so I will explain it as best I can. You see, everyone being on Remnant with a soul has the potential to use something called Aura."

The three Imperial deserters exchanged looks on hearing the two terms, wondering what the Jedi was talking about.

"Aura is a…manifestation of sorts. The people say it originates from their souls once it is unlocked and it primarily acts as a shield." 

_Just like those soldiers that were unaffected by our blasters._ Taddrei thought.

"Aura is not just a shield, however. It can be used to offer bursts of strength and speed, and it can be used to heighten one's senses."

"Sounds a little too much like the Force if you ask me." Trio commented.

"I thought that too when I first arrived here, but these people, they are not of the Force."

"What do you mean?"

"The Force as we know it surrounds everything—penetrates everything. It is present here on Remnant, but it is subdued…weakened."

"Hmm. Great. A weakened Jedi. Just what we need." Trio muttered.

"Had you met me when I first got here, I would be weakened, but I have learned to adapt to this world. I would dare say that my connection to the Force is stronger than ever thanks to Remnant." Ral replied, casually holding up a hand and having a few glasses of water float toward the desk. Once they settled on the desk, Ral motioned toward the three and said, "Please. Have a drink. I can sense your weariness."

Tray nodded at Ral and picked up the glass. "Thank you, Ral."

Ral waited for them to take their first sips of the cool water before continuing. "While everyone is born with Aura, it must be unlocked before it can be used. The two most common ways is for one to unlock it by himself, or for someone else to do it. Most people on Remnant do not have their Aura unlocked, but if someone is looking into some sort of fighting career, then unlocking his Aura is a must."

"So how do Semblances tie into this?" Trio asked, curious about Winter's power.

"I was getting to that. While Aura is a manifestation of one's soul; a Semblance is a reflection of a person's character—an aspect of their innate power. Aura is a constant in one's life once it is unlocked, but you often don't see its use. A Semblance is a more tangible projection of its user's Aura. While each Semblance is unique to the individual, it is not unheard of for family to have a similar Semblance. Note that I said 'similar'; this is what makes Winter's family unique, in that they all have the _exact_ _same_ Semblance."

"And…?" Tray asked, wondering what else there was to this.

"The Schnee family's Semblance is known for being hereditary, and when trained, they can be quite formidable fighters. Winter being a prime example."

"Wait, if you said her father is the CEO of some big company, did she not get groomed to take over?"

"No. She was denied the inheritance of the SDC for reasons no one knows. The honor of heiress was given to her younger sister Weiss Schnee."

"Winter…Weiss…There's gotta be a theme with their names."

"Weiss' name is derived from an old language that is no longer spoken. I believe it translates to 'White Snow' in some way."

"Winter must be their parent's favorite season." Taddrei whispered to Tray, who slowly nodded his head.

"Ya think?"

"Okay, so Winter's not a Jedi. Good to know. Can we go now?" Trio asked.

"You may want to consider not going anywhere." Ral stated.

"We don't take orders from you, Jedi." Trio spat back.

"I figured that you would be coming back when I saw your names on the news."

"What?" Tray asked.

"Atlas did not take too well to your little prison break. While footage showed that you tried not to kill anyone unless you had to, other prisoners that broke out did not show the same restraint." Ral said, sliding a small display toward them.

"This is a part of the nearest news station talking about you and your little group." Ral said.

The display showed a woman on the screen, with a smaller box showing footage of the ex-Imperial's escape.

" _Earlier today, Atlas military reported a prison break at one of their bases just outside of their kingdom. They handed us footage of the prison break, and as you can see from the video, what stands out are these men in white armor, led by three Atlas soldiers." the woman said, with the small video expanding to take up the entire display._

"That's just before we entered the armory." Taddrei pointed out.

The video showed Trio kicking down the door, with Renbra throwing in a smoke grenade.

"Kicking down that door kinda hurt." Trio commented.

The footage then skipped to them inside the armory, quickly taking down the Atlas personnel inside.

" _As you can see, these soldiers managed to infiltrate the base and break into their armory, stealing what look like prototype weapons, but a few words between some of them may indicate that there is more than meets the eye._

As the woman spoke, the video showed the non-Imperial activating the alarm, with a subtitles appearing as the stormtroopers spoke.

" _Blast it! We don't have much time!"_

" _Found em!"_

Manrica reached the blasters and started handing them out to the group.

" _Keep your blasters on stun."_

The video screen shrank again, showing the woman once more.

" _Atlas has put together a small task force to track down these mysterious soldiers. Not much is known about them, and only one of their faces is known. Atlas is putting out quite a bounty for any information leading to the capture of Tray, Taddrei, Brenver, Soltrev, Manrica, and Katlin," the woman said, as Tray's face appeared on the screen, along with the armor of the stormtroopers. "We have Specialist Winter Schnee with us today for an interview of what happened."_

"Hoo boy." Taddrei whispered.

The woman and video screen disappeared to show Winter and a man sitting opposite each other in a very interview-like set up, with the man waiting for confirmation to speak.

" _Miss Schnee, what were those soldiers doing in an Atlas base?"_

" _I'm not going to lie. As far as we know, these people are not affiliated with any known criminal or terrorist organizations. They were simply taken prisoner for trespassing and not leaving military grounds when warned, but more of them must have found out that their comrades were captured, and mounted a rescue mission. They broke into the cells and started a prison break as a result. While these…soldiers…did not kill very many of our own, the other prisoners that escaped did not hold themselves back as much."_

The man slowly nodded. _"I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Schnee. So tell me, what were those guns that these men stole?"_

" _They did not steal them. They simply took what was theirs. When we captured them, they had these odd weapons with them. After testing their weapons, we found that they fired some sort of blue stun wave. We only found out about what they did when we questioned their supposed leader, Trey."_

" _Trey? That's an odd name."_ the reporter commented.

"Not as odd as Winter or Weiss," Tray grumbled. He looked at the screen to once again see his face, with his name underneath the picture of him. "It's Tray with an 'a' not an 'e.'"

" _So what did this Trey fellow tell you?"_ the reporter asked

" _He said that a friend of his developed these guns to combat the Grimm—That they sent out a type of pulse that can stun Grimm and knock them unconscious."_ Winter replied to the reporter's question.

Trio leaned toward Tray and said, "Seriously? They actually believe that?"

"Hush."

" _So these weapons were strong enough to knock out Grimm…and they used them on Atlas personnel?"_

" _According to Trey, their weapons can lower the charge for smaller targets."_ Winter stated.

" _Sounds pretty useful. Think these weapons will be on the market any time soon?"_ the reporter asked.

"Pfft. Invent space travel, _then_ we'll talk." Trio snorted.

" _So you say that people infiltrated your base to break out their comrades. How do you feel about one of the most secure bases in the Atlas military being infiltrated by a few people and causing a prison break that released Roman Torchwick?"_ the reporter asked.

Winter narrowed her eyes, but quickly relaxed them. _"We took Torchwick prisoner once. We can do it again."_

Ral reached over to the display and turned it off. "I assume that you will be laying low here for a bit?"

"We really need to contact the _Equinox_ , Ral. I appreciate your offer to help us out, but we can't stay. If you're discovered harboring 'criminals,' you'll be a fugitive just like us."

Before Ral could respond, light knocking tapped on the door. "Excuse me. Until this is over, just call me Jonquil…Come in."

The door to Ral's room opened and a kid walked in. He frowned on seeing the former Imperials again, but mostly ignored them. "Mr. Saffron, the next time you head into Vale, some of the kids have been asking for Scrolls. They are getting old enough to use them."

Ral nodded and said, "If I can get them, I will try."

"Also, what are these soldiers doing back here?" the kid asked.

"We just came to ask Jonquil about the Grimm in this area." Tray lied.

The kid looked at Tray but then shrugged and turned to leave the room.

"What was that about?" Taddrei asked.

"That is the unofficial 'leader' of the kids around here. They all look up to him."

"He…looks kind of like you." Taddrei commented.

"Of course he does. He's my son." Ral replied, with the Imperials all looking straight at him in shock.

"Come again? Your son?" Trio asked.

"I thought Jedi were celibates."

"The Jedi are no longer. They are gone, along with the Republic." Ral stated.

The ex-Imperials looked away from the Jedi in slight shame. They may not have had anything to do with what happened over twenty years ago, but they still served the Empire that did it.

"And I…I am sorry" Ral said hesitantly.

"Sorry for what?"

"I attacked you without provocation and nearly killed you, Tray." Ral apologized.

Tray's eyes softened on seeing the look on the Jedi's face. _He's alone except for the kids he takes care of. The Empire killed everyone he knew and forced him to flee at who knows how young._

"We forgive you, Ral. It's completely understandable. We wore the trappings of the Empire that destroyed your old life. When you saw us, you only saw hostiles, not men looking to run."

Ral looked up at Tray and smiled. "You really do remind me of my old master in more than just appearance."

"I'll…take that as a compliment," Tray responded. "Anyway, fugitives or not, we need to get a message to the _Equinox_ and we need parts for it. If Atlas is no longer an option, where else can we go?"

"Well…There is the kingdom of Vale." Ral replied.

"What's it like?"

"Vale is the center kingdom of Remnant and one of the oldest. It's central location has made it the commercial center of Remnant, the city of the same name in particular. I myself often go there for supply runs for things we can't find or make ourselves," Ral said. "You may have to wait longer, but you can still order parts for your communications array from Vale. This could also give you plenty of time to establish contacts and even make some money if you're lucky." he continued.

"That's very generous of you Ral." Taddrei said.

"Yeah, what's the catch?" Trio asked.

"I have been asked to help deal with some criminals. During your little prison break, some other less savory characters got out, one of them in particular has been quite active in such a short time."

"And you want us to capture or kill him." Trio finished.

"This man knows too much about an organization for him to be killed and he knows it. He is very dangerous, no Huntsmen that go after him have come back."

"Wait, what's a Huntsman?" Tray asked.

Ral lightly tapped his forehead. "I knew I was forgetting to tell you something. Huntsmen are the best of the best. Being a Huntsman is a _very_ dangerous job since they are the ones fighting against the Grimm. Winter has been trained as a Huntress, but she has chosen to serve in the military."

"Huntsmen…Huntresses. Are they same thing, just men and women?" Taddrei asked.

"Yes…Back to the criminal. I know that it's dangerous, sending you to take down a man that not even the best of Remnant can fight, but helping in his recapture will bring a good payday and possibly get the Atlas military off your back." Ral said.

"Will you help us with this? It's your mission after all." Tray asked.

"Of course I will help."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Trio said, walking toward the door when Ral held out a hand and Trio froze in place.

"You don't even know who you're looking for." Ral pointed out.

"…"

"You're looking for a man named Roman Torchwick."

"Torchwick…That interview with Winter mentioned that name." Taddrei mused.

"Yes. Torchwick is a renowned criminal that has been a growing problem for years. The Atlas military recently captured him and sentenced him to life in prison for his crimes…And you accidentally broke him out."

"Ooh…oops."

"Yeah 'oops.'"

Tray slowly shook his head and said, "Well, let's go. See if we can find this Torchwick guy."

"Not so fast, Imperial," Ral said. "Your face is all over the news, along with the names of your comrades. Tray, I'm sorry, but you can't go out in public for a while, especially with an upcoming annual festival, and the increased security that goes along with it. As for the rest of your squad, they will need new names and new clothes.

Ral finally let go of his Force-hold on Trio, who walked back, grumbling curses at the Jedi. "New names? Screw that, I'm staying with the shuttle."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, Trio." Tray said.

"Good, 'cause I'm staying even if you order me to go."

Ral stood up from his desk and began to walk out of his office, the three Imperials following him. They walked through the cliffside home until they reached the exit, with the shuttle just outside. "Are you sure about this, Ral?"

"Yes, but you cannot just fly into Vale with that shuttle of yours. Too many questions will be raised, and may tip off the Atlas military. Looking at what the news could get out of the military, Atlas likely has an idea that what you use is highly advanced. A strange ship that has never been seen before will definitely raise some red flags with the kingdoms."

"True…What do you propose?" Tray asked.

"I propose that your squad come with me. I have transportation of my own and we can easily reach Vale. While we're away, your shuttle can stay where my ship usually is."

Tray slightly bowed to Ral. "Thank you, Ral."

 **Dialogue heavy chapter, I know, but I felt that our deserters were kind of thrown to the wolves by Ral, so I'm having him take a more active role in the story. Yay! Anyway, see you guys next chapter. Also, since it was mostly just talking, I was able to do this really quickly. Don't expect a chapter with a fight scene to come by this quickly. Next chapter'll probably show up Saturday or Sunday. Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'd like to apologize for the later than usual chapter. This one came a little slower than I had planned. With college starting, I may not be able to post as often. I'll still try to get at least one chapter out every seven days or so though. Schedule changes aside, thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favorites!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 8: The Crossroads of the World**

Tray entered the shuttle and gathered his squad together. "Here's what we're doing next: the Jedi Ral will be going with us to the kingdom of Vale, and he'll provide us with clothing and help us come up with names so we can blend into Remnant's populace."

"Why is the Jedi coming with us? That will just paint a target on his back as well." Trio asked.

"You'll need a guide once you reach Vale," Tray replied. "My identity has been painted all over the news since we escaped the Atlesian military, so I cannot go with you."

"But why have a Jedi lead us? We're uncertain of where his loyalties lie." Katlin stated.

"Just like last time, if you don't want to go, I won't make you," Tray replied, sparing a glance at Trio and Katlin. "Just as I can't go for being too obvious since they know my face and name, Shejas also can't go."

"What? Why?" the pilot protested. "They didn't see my face or get my name!"

Taddrei coughed as the entire squad stared just above Shejas' head. "Why's everybody looking at me like that? Is there something on my…horns…" A look of realization came over the Zabrak's face. "Ohh…Right. The horns." 

"Even if you found a way to conceal your horns, your skin color would likely raise some questions."

Shejas opened his mouth, but Tray cut him off. "You're staying with the shuttle, just like me, Trio, and the non-combatants. Period."

Shejas closed his mouth and waited for Tray to continue.

"Ral said that the people of Remnant are named in a way that bring certain colors to mind. This little tradition of theirs is the result of some sort of war, with the winners doing this to remind themselves of individuality. I'm sure we'll have needed to live here when the war happened to truly understand this, but we'll have to name ourselves after colors in some way."

"What about those of us who aren't going?" Shejas asked.

"You don't have to unless you want to." Tray said, with his Zabrak friend nodding to his answer.

"So…what kinds of names do these people have?" Soltrev asked.

"Ral's working on a list of names for us, but it's up to you to pick a name."

"What will we be doing in Vale? Same plan as what it was going to be for Atlas?" Manrica asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. More than likely we'll have to acquire enough money to order some parts and wait for it to be delivered from Atlas. If you're lucky enough to find the parts we need right in Vale, try to get them."

"How will we get money?" Taddrei asked.

"Whatever you can do to get funding. Odd jobs, mercenary work, bounty hunting. If we absolutely have to, we'll look at…other means." Tray replied.

"What about the increased security that Ral mentioned? Won't it be risky for us to go there?" Katlin asked.

"No one on Remnant has seen your faces. A proper change of clothes and a new name will minimize your chances of being detected.

"I don't know if I can do a name change so easily." Soltrev muttered.

"It's not that hard," Manrica spoke up. "Just completely ignore your name and only answer to your new one. It's pretty easy once you get the mindset that you're 'dead' and the new you is a…replacement."

"And you know this how?" Shejas asked, scrunching his eyebrows together.

Manrica smirked and took off his helmet, flashing a cheeky smile. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Shejas shrugged and just looked back to Tray.

"There's not much else I have to say." Tray admitted.

"Finally." Trio mumbled under his breath.

"Any questions?"

"I have one: if you're not going to be leading us, who will? The Jedi?" Brenver asked.

"Taddrei will be in charge of the mission until it's safe for me to go with you." Tray said.

"Again? We didn't even get that far last time!" the young stormtrooper protested.

"Through no fault of your own. Not the most ideal of first commands, I admit; but we were _all_ captured. It wasn't your fault, Taddrei, and don't let anyone else say otherwise."

"It was your fault." Shejas said jokingly, getting a look from Trio and Tray, while the rest of the squad slowly shook their heads.

"If you want me in charge, I'll do it, sir. I won't disappoint you."

"Good. I have nothing else for you. Meet up with Ral outside the shuttle to get your new clothes."

The squad with the exception of Trio, Tray, and Shejas filed out of the make-shift briefing room toward the exit ramp of the shuttle.

"Any idea of what to do while they're gone?" Trio asked.

"Well…I have some pazaak cards my dad gave me." Shejas suggested.

"Pazaak?" Trio asked.

"Ah, it's an old card game that was pretty much replaced by sabaac, a long time ago."

Trio shrugged and said, "Eh, ain't got anything else to do. How do you play it?"

"Tray, you tell him. I'll go get the cards and set up a table." Shejas said, leaving the room.

"It'll probably be easier to show you. Just watch me and Shejas play a game, and we'll explain it as we go."

Shejas walked back into the room, dragging a table with him. "…I forgot exactly where I put the cards, but I know that I brought them with me. Just give me a little bit to dig around in the cockpit."

"Take your time, Shejas," Tray said as the Zabrak left the room. "Alright, so the main goal of the game is try to get the card values to twenty. If you go over, you lose the round, but if you're closer to twenty than the other guy, you win the round. The main deck plays one card at a time, and you get to pick a 'side deck,' where you are randomly given four cards that you can place down on any of your turns in a game. You—"

Trio's eyebrows crunched together in confusion. "Uh…I think I'll just watch for now."

"Alright, that works."

"I found it!" Shejas exclaimed, entering the room with a pouch in his hands and sitting down across the table from Tray. "So who's going first?" he asked.

"Trio just wants to see how the game works first."

"Alright…I don't really believe in gambling with friends, so it's Imperial Senate Rules."

Trio tilted his head in confusion. "There are different rules?"

"Oh, it doesn't change how the game works, it just affects how you play it." Shejas explained.

"Let's keep it simple with Imperial Senate Rules." Tray said.

"Okay…what're Imperial Senate Rules?" Trio asked.

Shejas grinned, and Tray rolled his eyes on seeing the Zabrak's face. "That's where we waste a lot of time trading cards and trying to beat each other; but in the end, nobody wins, everybody loses, and no one accomplishes anything." Shejas said, with a face-splitting grin.

Trio put a hand to his mouth and coughed in surprise. "Heh. I get it."

Shejas opened the pouch and began shuffling the cards. "Pick your side deck." he said, holding out a separate deck to Tray. Tray picked out ten cards and handed them back to Shejas, who shuffled them. Tray pulled four cards out of the deck and looked at them, his face betraying nothing. Shejas then picked ten cards and handed them to Tray, who shuffled them, with the Zabrak then drawing four cards and looking at them as well.

"Trio, since we don't have a proper pazaak table, you'll have to deal out the cards for us." Shejas said, holding out the remainder of the deck to the heavy trooper.

Trio sighed, sat down on the third chair and took the deck. "What do I do?"

"Just put a card down on our side of the table when we tell you. That's all ya gotta do." 

"Okay." Trio said. _This is going to be so boring. I should've gone with the rest of the squad, but nooooo…you had to be too attached to your gear._ he thought as he placed one card on Tray's side of the table, then placing one on Shejas' side when Tray said he was ending his turn.

Five games later, he still had no idea how the game worked.

As the three continued their game of pazaak, the rest of the squad was following Ral to his ship. They were no longer wearing their Imperial armor, instead garbed in plain clothes. They all wore pants that Ral said were called 'jeans,' and they wore various types of shirts. While they were not wearing what was usually worn in the galaxy, some of them had to admit that it felt good to wear something other than armor. They still wore the typical Imperial black jumpsuits under their new clothes as a way to keep _some_ measure of protection. With new names for themselves in mind, they hoped that they wouldn't say anything offensive to the wrong person.

Taddrei tugged at the collar his new 'flannel shirt' and said, "This'll take some getting used to. What's the point of this neck thing anyway?" he asked in mild annoyance.

"I've been asking myself that ever since I first landed here." Ral replied with a small smile.

"Any day now." Soltrev murmured as he brushed past the group and walked up to Ral's ship.

It was…not what the Imperials were expecting at all.

"…the heck is this bucket of bolts?" Brenver blurted. "That looks more like a boat; its even got oars!"

"Do not be so quick to judge, Brenver," Renbra warned. "With our technology, that ship wouldn't work, but we know next to nothing about Remnant's technology. Besides, you'll probably piss someone off talking like that."

"Remnant is not the most forgiving world. Life here is reflected in it's people." Ral said.

Brenver nodded and muttered, "Jedi talk…Great…"

"While the Grimm are not as big of a threat as they were years ago, their veil of darkness still looms over the people. People with a good head on their shoulders know this and live as if today could very well be their last." the Jedi continued, oblivious to the fact that he was being ignored. He pulled out a small device and seemed to split it apart, only for a small display to appear with a symbol that looked like a lock.

Manrica took note of how Ral used the device and thought, _"hmm…Wonder if I could modify that to make hacking things easier for me. Do the people here even have computers? I mean, if they use just metal for their handcuffs, I can't say I have the highest expectations for their technology._

A small boarding ramp lowered from Ral's ship and he stepped into the ship, beckoning to the Imperials to follow. "I know it's not what you're used to, but it'll get us to Vale and back."

"Master Ral, what should we expect out of Vale? Is it like Atlas?" Taddrei asked.

"Vale is unique in that it is not confined to one single area. There are a few outlying settlements that are considered the kingdom of Vale, but are too far to be considered Vale proper," Ral said. "And don't call me 'Master.' You'll give people the wrong idea. That, and I was never a Jedi Master." he added.

Taddrei nodded in understanding and said, "Understood."

Ral walked to one end of the ship, speaking as he walked off. "You can just stay here. This is where most people stay on this kind of ship. Just let me get it ready to fly and then we're good to go."

Katlin opened her mouth to ask the Jedi something, but he was already gone. Closing her mouth, she walked over to one of the larger-than-expected windows. _Such a large window is a glaring structural weakness. Who designed these ships?_ she thought as she peered out at the empty hanger.

"Why does a Jedi need such a big ship if he's the only one who uses it?" Renbra asked no one in particular.

"Perhaps it was given to him? He doesn't exactly scream, 'vain rich person' to me." Taddrei suggested.

"True. Jedi weren't known for selfishness…Well…most of em, anyway." Renbra replied.

"You've met a Jedi before?" Taddrei asked.

"I'm not sure to be honest. There was one time when I was little that a man passing through showed us kids some pretty cool tricks. Some of the Imperial garrison dragged him away in the middle of his 'show' though, saying something about thievery and kidnapping people…His ship never left the spaceport after that." Renbra answered.

"Wow…That's a little dark." Manrica droned.

The ship lurched, sending Taddrei, Soltrev, and Katlin to the floor as Ral's voice sounded over a speaker. "Sorry about that! I haven't had to fly this thing in a long time. I usually make the trip to Vale on foot."

"Sheesh. It's like this is his first time flying a ship." Soltrev grumbled as he stood up and dusted off his shirt-sleeves.

The ship slowly flew out of the hanger, with large metal doors closing just as the ship cleared the cliffside hanger.

Ral entered the section of the ship the Imperials were spread out in, and their eyes widened. "Ral…who's flying the ship?" Taddrei asked in concern.

"Don't worry. The ship has an autopilot."

"Oh."

Katlin nervously shuffled as the Jedi approached the group. She began to ask Ral what she was going to ask earlier, but someone else began speaking to the Jedi. _It can wait…_ she thought.

"Ral, how'd you escape Order 66?" Taddrei asked, with the man noticeably stiffening upon hearing those words.

"Taddrei!" Brenver blurted. "Not cool!"

"S-sorry! It's just been bothering me, okay?"

Brenver scowled at the youngest stormtrooper in the group and walked to the other end of the room.

"It's alright. It's been over twenty years since it happened, and I…I haven't spoken to anyone about it in almost just as long. It would do me some good to talk about it; maybe get things off my chest."

"So how'd you escape it?"

"I didn't escape it. I was nowhere near any clones when Order 66 was issued."

"So were many Jedi, but you evaded the Empire entirely. How?"

"All you need to know for now is that I was traveling alone when it happened." Ral stated.

Taddrei's eyebrows knit together as he thought for a few seconds. "Weren't the Jedi leaders in the Clone Wars? What would a general be doing all by himself?" he asked.

Ral closed his eyes and sighed. _This one is a little more perceptive than I thought._

"Not all Jedi fully fought in the war. Despite the scale of the Clone Wars, not all of the Jedi felt that it was right to be such active participants, and I was among them. While I did lead in some battles, I preferred to hand over my command to more capable Jedi such as Mace Windu or Obi-Wan Kenobi."

The Imperials listened intently to Ral's description of his time in the Clone Wars and even some of his stories before the extremely influential war. As Ral was telling them of his time as an apprentice, a strange object sped past the ship, clearly seen through the windows. Two Remnant ships flanked them on either side, keeping pace with their transport.

"Unknown ship, identify yourself." a voice spoke over the speaker.

"Let me handle this." Ral said, quickly running to the cockpit at an inhuman speed—likely using the Force.

He sat down in the pilot's chair and said, "Hello. This is Jonquil Saffron. This is my ship. Sorry for not being recognized. This is my first real trip into Vale with this thing."

"State your business and cargo, Mr. Saffron." the voice replied.

"My business and cargo are the same. I found some lost travelers in the forest, and I am simply bringing them to Vale. I needed to make a supply run anyway."

"Mr. Saffron, we're going to need you to transmit us your ship ID, as well as yours."

"Of course. Transmitting codes now." Ral said.

The voice was silent for a moment until it rang over the speakers again. "Looks like your credentials check out. You're free to land on landing strip 42C. Have a nice day, Mr. Saffron." the voice said, with the ships veering away.

Ral's ship flew toward the designated landing pad, settling down moments later. Ral shut off the engines and stepped out of the cockpit, making sure to lock the controls as he left.

"What were those ships for?" Taddrei asked as Ral approached the former Imperials.

"Must be the increase in security for the Vytal Festival."

"Vytal Festival?" the temporary squad leader asked.

"It's the name of an annual event that celebrates the cultures of the world, both modern and ancient. It's biggest attraction is the tournament for the Hunter academies…Before anyone asks what that is, Hunter academies train Hunters. The Vytal Festival gives these Hunters-in-training the chance to earn recognition as well as an opportunity for the academies to show off the fighting skills of their students."

"Heh…a festival with a fighting-tournament. I think Trio'll love to hear this." Manrica whispered to Brenver and smirked and nodded in response.

"Is it such a big deal that they need this kind of security so soon?"

"It is a huge event. Planning for the next one starts almost as soon as it ends. I personally think that it could be much better if it was a bi-annual event, but that's just me." Ral answered.

"Is security usually an issue? Is it because of the Grimm?" Manrica asked.

"No. On Remnant, there's no such thing as too much security. In fact, the more secure such a large event, the less likely the Grimm will be a concern." Ral said, leaving the Imperials confused.

Katlin felt there was a good enough break in the conversation to say something, but Ral held up his hand. "I will answer your questions later. For now, you have a city to explore, and a criminal to track down."

"Yeah, about that." Taddrei started.

"Tell me later. I have things to do, places to be."

Taddrei nodded and followed the Jedi out of the ship. As they left the landing pad, a man and a woman were walking down the street when the man took notice of them and started walking over to them, the woman at his side. "Crap…Let me handle this." Ral muttered.

"Are we in trouble already?" Manrica whispered, hoping to not be thrown into prison again. _I have a lack of a reputation, dang it! And I plan on keeping it that way!_

"Mr. Saffron, it has been some time since last we met" the man said.

Taddrei took note of the man and the woman, wondering if the clothes he and his comrades were wearing were normal enough. _For a guy with gray hair, he looks pretty young…Then again, that Winter woman had some_ really _white hair._ he thought.

Katlin looked over the woman more than the rest of the group. _Ew…What's with that cape? That torn thing clashes too much with the rest of her rather prim and proper appearance. I don't know about other people, but I'd definitely try to grab that cape to keep from running away in a fight._ she thought.

While the rest of the group worried about looking natural, Manrica thought only one thing on seeing the blonde woman. _She's hot._

Ral offered a surprisingly genuine smile for not sounding pleased to meet these two and said, "Not long enough."

"Oh, don't be like that, Mr. Saffron. Despite what happened last time you were here, we're still pleased to meet you again."

Ral's face remained neutral and he said, "The pleasure's all mine, Headmaster."

"These are your…compatriots I presume?" the man asked.

"They were wandering the forest when I found them. Figured I'd give 'em a ride back to Vale."

The man nodded his head to the ex-Imperials and smiled. "You are all very lucky that Mr. Saffron here found you. The Grimm are not to trifled with." he said.

 _You should see a T-21 in action against them._ Taddrei thought, remembering how easily the repeating blasters eliminated the Grimm.

"What were you fools doing outside the city walls? You are clearly not Hunters, and you have no weapons. How did you last long enough out there for Ral to find you?" the woman asked harshly.

"Glynda, don't do this to them. I am sure that they have some way to avoid the Grimm." the gray-haired man warned

"They are not Hunters, yet they survived all the way out there," The woman looked at the Imperials and said, "I apologize for that. My curiosity got the better of me."

"We're…not from the kingdoms." Taddrei said, getting looks from his squad-mates.

 _What is he doing?!_ was the general thought among the ex-Imperials.

"Oh? And where are you from, might I ask?" the woman named Glynda asked.

"We live outside of the kingdoms, safely hidden from the Grimm. Only reason we're here is because some rats got into our communications array, messing up the wiring, among other things." Taddrei explained.

"Living underground is almost more dangerous than living above ground. You have the constant threat of a cave-in." Glynda pointed out.

"The way we see it, it's just trading the threat of the Grimm for the threat of a cave-in." Manrica spoke up, looking at Taddrei. " _Let me take care of this."_ was the message he hoped to convey to his younger leader.

"Interesting." Glynda mused.

"Glynda, we are not here to interrogate these newcomers," the man scolded. He looked back at the 'underground' dwellers and said, "You'll have to forgive Glynda here. She's not the most…forgiving…when it comes to things such as this. I am Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon academy."

"You train Hunters, correct?" Taddrei asked.

"We do more than train them. We prepare the next generation, and warn them to not make the mistakes that we have." Ozpin explained.

"So…what? You teach 'em history or something?"

"Among other things, yes," Ozpin replied. "If I may ask, what are your names?"

Taddrei swallowed and said, "Well…I'm Koa," He motioned to Soltrev, Katlin, Brenver, Manrica, and Renbra, introducing Soltrev as Quinn, Katlin as Viola, Brenver as Karat, Manrica as Ro, and Renbra as Onyx.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Ozpin greeted. "I am sure that you will be busy, so we won't keep you."

Ral looked at the undercover Imperials and looked back at Ozpin and Glynda. "Yes. They'll need to find the money to order parts to repair their communications."

"We can help with that if you need it." Ozpin offered, only for Glynda to send a less-than-friendly look.

"Professor, you know that our budget should only be used for the festival, and for Beacon. While it would be nice to help these people, we just can't spare the lien for it."

"Lien? Is that what you're money is called?" Manrica asked without thinking.

"Yes. How have you not heard of it?" Glynda asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"We…don't have any lien. We usually trade for what we need, and even then, most of what we usually use can be found or made by hand." Manrica lied.

Ral looked at the stormtrooper and lost himself in thought. _This man is someone to watch. His body language, smile, and tone make him seem to be telling the complete truth; and even the Force seems to have a hard time telling me if he's lying or not. The only reason I know he's lying is because these men came from the Empire, not underground somewhere._

Glynda nodded in understanding and relaxed herself.

Ozpin bowed his head to the group and said, "Well, I wish you luck on finding what you're looking for. Good day." He and Glynda turned around and walked away.

Ral slightly slouched in relief and quietly sighed. "I hate talking to them."

"They seem like good people." Taddrei commented.

"They are, don't get me wrong…Something about them just sets off all kinds of warnings in my head." Ral replied.

 _Keep talking like that, and I'll start thinking you're part spider._ Manrica thought.

As they walked the streets of Vale, Taddrei had to admit that he was pretty impressed. He didn't recognize any of the technology, and it was refreshing to see absolutely nothing about the Empire or the Rebellion. _If only people would understand that some worlds did not want to fight for either side and to just stay out of the war._ _But this is a new chance for us. Hopefully, we can find our families one day and bring them here. No Empire. No Rebellion…No war._ he thought sadly, wishing that he could see his family again.

"Yo, Koa. Keep up, man." Manrica said, breaking Taddrei out of his thoughts. He walked faster to catch up with his group, finding himself walking next to Ral. As they walked through the streets, Taddrei saw that they were coming up on a building that looked more like a tower.

"Ra—I mean, Jonquil—where are we going?"

"If you truly want to make a home for yourselves, you _will_ need contacts." the Jedi answered, walking past a couple who seemed oblivious to their presence.

"What kind of contacts?…Please tell me they aren't criminals." Taddrei said quietly.

"Depends on who you're asking. If you ask the average person, they will simply call them rich business owners. If you ask…Less savory characters, you'll be told that they are slave-drivers."

"Great. Rich folks…Tell me they aren't politicians."

"They are not. There is a concert being hosted by the Schnee Dust Company, with the heiress having quite a central role in it."

"Weiss Schnee? Here?"

Ral put a finger to his lips. "Shh…It is something that not many know about. It's the SDC's way of sending off its heiress before she heads off to Beacon to start her Huntress training."

"If it's a secret, how do you know about it?" Taddrei asked.

"Through my contacts. I actually get a lot of money from the rich folk of Remnant. I get most of all the money I've ever made here working odd jobs for them."

"So you do stuff for them that they can't just hire a normal person to do?" Taddrei asked.

"There are many things that 'normal' people can't do that a Jedi can." Ral said.

Taddrei wondered what he meant by that, but decided to ask about the concert. "How are people like us going to get in? It sounds like it will be very expensive."

Ral slyly smiled and said, "Meet up with me in two hours at this building," he said, pointing to a large spire-like structure. "I can only take one person with me, so you'll have to choose who goes while the rest of you find a place to stay while you're in town."

"I'll do it. Tr…the Lieutenant appointed me as the leader, so I should be the one establishing contacts in his stead."

The Jedi nodded and said, "Fair enough. I'll let you all look around the city for a bit, get a feel of the place. Just remember to meet me here. If you get lost, ask someone where the CCTS is. Anyone who lives here will be able to show you the way."

Ral turned around to walk away before Taddrei stopped him and asked, "CCTS?"

"…Cross-Continental Communications System. Think of it like the holonet."

 _Why does this place have so many weird terms? This is the strangest planet I've ever heard of or been on, I swear._ Taddrei thought, with Ral smiling knowingly.

Ral walked away, seeming to just disappear into the crowd.

"Where to, brave leader?" Renbra asked sarcastically.

"Ah, who are you kidding. He totally threw us to the wolves just now." Soltrev groaned, getting a few looks from a few people walking by with…dog ears?

 _Uh oh. Please tell me you_ didn't _just piss em off._ Taddrei thought.

Fortunately, the two just sadly shook their heads and continued on their way, muttering, "Things never change."

"Dude, I think you just offended those Faunus," Brenver scolded, giving Renbra a stern look. "You should go to them and say that you were not talking about them, and you are sorry if you offended them."

"Yeah. You're right," Renbra said, walking toward the two and tapping on one of their shoulders. "Excuse me. Uh, listen, I'm sorry if what I said back there offended you two. I'm…new around here and…well, I haven't really met one of your kind before."

The larger wolf-Faunus looked at the stormtrooper in surprise before smiling and dismissively waving his hand. "It's no problem, Human. We're used to hearing that kind of talk." The two Faunus turned around and entered what Ral called the CCTS.

Renbra sighed and returned to his squad, with Taddrei asking him, "How'd it go?" 

"They said it's alright, and that they're used to hearing that kind of talk"

"'Used to it'? No one should be 'used' to that kind of talk." Taddrei said sadly.

The squad wandered the streets until they entered a large building and found all kinds of smaller shops inside of it. "What kind of place is this?" Katlin wondered aloud.

Manrica leaned toward the medic and said, "Look at the sign. We're in the ValechaseMall."

"What's a mall?" Taddrei muttered.

Manrica put his hands behind his head and sighed. "If I had to guess, I'd say it's a big building with lots of little shops inside of it." he droned.

"You wanna play that game? Because I can play it too, smart-ass." Taddrei snapped.

Manrica held his hands up and stepped away from the man. "Whoa. Whoa. Calm down, man. I was just sayin.'"

Taddrei relaxed and looked around. This 'mall' was quite something. _Looks like a mix between a market and a warehouse._ he thought.

He felt something bump into him and looked at the offender.

"Oh! S-Sorry!" a young-sounding voice apologized.

Taddrei looked at the person to see a girl wearing clothes that…well, they stood out. He shrugged it off and said, "No problem. I should've been paying attention where I was going."

"I should've too. Um…I-I have to go!" the girl said, running off.

 _That red cape looks…kind of childish._ Taddrei thought as the girl ran toward a blond girl that didn't seem much older.

Taddrei looked over his shoulder when he heard the seemingly trademark chuckle from Manrica. "Heh, that girl really threw herself at you, didn't she?"

"Dude, she looks like she's fourteen!" Taddrei protested.

"Not my problem you look like you'll take what you can get," the stormtrooper replied, only for Katlin to ram her elbow into his ribs. "Ow!"

"Don't accuse him of… _that_. It's not funny, and you'll only bring attention to us…attention we don't need." the medic scolded, leaving the thief to mutter apologies while rubbing at his hurt rib-cage.

"Sorry, man. It was just a joke."

"Keep them to yourself until you get a filter." Taddrei growled.

"Alright, alright. Geez. Learn to take a joke, man."

"Those kinds of jokes shouldn't be said, dumbass." Soltrev said, enjoying seeing the cocky stormtrooper taken down a notch.

"Let's see if there are any parts stores here." Taddrei ordered, putting a stop to the argument.

A man walking by overheard the end of their conversation and tapped on Taddrei's shoulder. "Excuse me, sir. I couldn't help but overhear that you are looking for parts? May I ask what parts you are looking for?"

Taddrei, not completely sure what parts the shuttle's comm needed, felt himself at a loss for words. "Uh…"

Renbra moved over to Taddrei and said, "Let me handle this," before looking at the man. "We're looking for satellite parts. A Nevermore attacked our home and damaged parts of our radar array. We normally don't come into Vale, but we really need the parts."

The man's eyes twinkled in a flash of greed before it disappeared and he smiled widely. "Then I have the very thing you are looking for! Come by my store! It's the big electronics store over there! _Radio House_ is the shop to look for!"

Renbra frowned on how excited the man seemed but nodded. "We'll take a look. Spare parts aren't the only things on our list."

"Of course, of course! I'll be getting out of your way then! I do hope you come by!" the man said, bowing his head and walking away.

"I have a bad feeling about that guy." Renbra said.

"What do you mean?" Taddrei asked.

"He was too…excited. Almost passed off as desperate if you ask me."

"He seemed like a decent fellow to me."

"You probably lived somewhere other than a spice-mine. Growing up in one, you tend to learn the difference between an honest deal, and a scam. Let me check out anything he offers us first." Renbra explained, quietly mentioning his childhood background in case of anyone listening to their conversation.

Taddrei looked at Renbra in shock. "You grew up in one? How did a kid survive in a place like that?!"

"Barely." Renbra mumbled, his eyes momentarily losing some of their life before he refocused on the present.

Taddrei noticed the slightly pained look on the man's face before saying, "You know what, I shouldn't have pried. I didn't mean to—"

Renbra waved a hand and said, "It wasn't all bad. I lived through it, and became stronger for it. Growing up in a mine, I managed to learn my way around machines and even how to haggle for a good price with scumbags and misers."

Taddrei looked back at his squad and motioned to gather around him. "Alright, we should probably split up in here. We can get more done and get a better feel for these people's technology. Katlin, see if you can find a place where medicine is sold and what kinds of diseases are on this planet. Soltrev Brenver, you two are pretty handy with weapons; find anything about the weapons here. If not, try to find a book or something. Manrica and Renbra, we're checking out that store."

"Why am I going with you two?" Manrica protested. "I can go with Katlin, it's not proper to leave a lady to go alone."

Katlin narrowed her eyes at the man and said, "I won't need your help, and you'll only slow me down. Taddrei obviously just wants to have two people with you to make sure you don't try to steal anything."

"Pfft. Me? Steal? That's for chumps!" Manrica boasted.

"Then what do you call what you did thirty seconds ago?" Katlin asked, pointing toward Manrica's left hand which was holding a black leather square that clearly did not belong to him. "You took it from that man standing over there." she continued, pointing toward said man.

 _Dang…Well played, milady. Well played._ Manrica thought. "I call it…acquisition of lost funding," he stated, finding an opening in the square and pulling it open. "Ooh, what have we here?" he asked innocently, opening it like a child opening a gift from his parents.

Manrica peered into the leather square and pulled out a few slips of paper. "Uh…What the heck is this?"

"That would probably be someone else's money." Katlin spat.

"Hey, if they were careless enough to 'lose' it, finder's keepers."

"Manrica, you stole it. Give it back to the owner." Taddrei ordered.

"…Fine," Manrica mumbled, turning around and tapping on his latest victim's shoulder. "Excuse me, sir. I believe you dropped this." he said, holding out the stolen property.

"I didn't drop this. I would know if my wallet fell out of my pocket." the man said, reaching to his back pocket, only to find it empty. He quickly took the wallet and looked inside it, pulling out what looked like some sort of ID card. "Huh…This is mine. Thanks for giving it back, man."

Manrica naturally smiled at the man. "No problem, good sir." He turned around and walked back to his squad.

"You actually seemed pretty genuine about giving it back." Renbra commented.

"What can I say? I love giving to the poor, as short as his time in poverty was." Manrica replied nonchalantly.

"If that's how you justify giving back what you stole…I won't judge." Renbra droned.

"Let's go find those parts!" Manrica announced, dramatically pointing toward the electronics store, and getting more than a few looks.

 _He is really abusing the fact that no one knows who we are,_ most of the squad thought.

 _This guy is an idiot._ Katlin thought.

The squad split up, looking around for what they were told to look for, while Taddrei, Renbra, and Manrica made their way to the electronics store that they were pointed to by the excitable business man.

No sooner had they entered the store did the man from before greet them with a disturbingly white smile.

 _Looks more like a shark's smile._ Renbra thought.

"Come in! Come in! I am sure that you will find whatever you need in my shop!"

"We'll just take a look around first." Renbra said sternly

"Do take your time. I'll be around here once you find something you like."

Renbra led Taddrei and Manrica around a small corner in the store and stopped them "Whatever happens with that man, let me do all the talking. He just wants our money, no matter how friendly he may sound."

"Don't need to tell me. I hated him the moment I saw him." Manrica chirped.

"You two act like you're looking around, but I'm going to see if anything would actually work with our technology." Renbra ordered.

"So we're just distractions for you." Taddrei droned. 

"Pretty much."

"Fair enough."

Renbra examined different parts, slowly shaking his head after putting each one back on the shelf. He made a sound of disgust and thought, _Blast. Nothing looks like it would work. Sure, there're_ some _things, but I would have to take it to the shuttle to see if it would work…We're going to need money; and soon._

Renbra was startled out of his thoughts by the business man's voice. "I do hope that you have found something you like?"

' _Like' is not the first word I'd think of._

"I'm just not sure." Renbra said.

"I'm sure that I can help you to get a good deal."

 _Ha! Like I'll believe that!_ Renbra thought. "Do you happen to have parts for a satellite?"

"A satellite? Why of course we do. You will have to go through some paper work and background for parts though. Most satellite parts are usually purchased by Atlas or the SDC to use for the maintenance of the CCTS."

"Makes sense. Wide-spread communication is very important here." Renbra mused, taking note of the man's eager nod.

"Yes, but I assure you that I can get you what you need! If not, I can get them for you!"

"Thanks, but the satellite we use is…different. We're just looking for parts that might work with it."

The business man's smile faded and a look of genuine confusion showed on his face. "Different? How?"

"We think it might have been a prototype of an older civilization that was destroyed by the Grimm."

"Ah, an artifact. I see." the man said, somewhat disappointed over his chances of making a sale more than likely being reduced.

Renbra held back a confident smile. _Now that he knows that his chances are lowered, he's going to lower the price or offer some sort of extra deal to make sure we buy something. Just gotta put the worm on the hook._ "Maybe there's a slim chance that I can adapt some parts used in other satellites for this one."

The man nodded, his smile slowly growing more genuine. The man led Renbra to a display that showed parts that were surprisingly similar to what the rest of the galaxy used for satellites. _Well, I guess as long as the concepts remain the same. At the worst, we can just strip the parts for something else._ he thought as he looked at the various parts.

"I have seen enough customers to know that you have probably come to a decision." the man said.

"I have." Renbra replied, pointing out the different parts.

The man pulled out the same kind of device that Ral used on his ship and tapped on its display. "Those parts will add up to ten thousand lien."

 _Ten thousand?! This should only be five-thousand, tops!_ Renbra thought, barely hiding his surprise.

"Just to let you know, company policy says that I can't give you any discounts for any reason." the man said firmly.

 _Dang. We're going to have our work cut out for us._ he thought, disappointed. _Tray's not going to like this._

"I'm…afraid we don't have that much with us right now." Renbra admitted.

"Oh, no need to worry, you can use a payment plan. Lot's of people do for big purchases like this!" the man suggested, his smile losing it's credibility and back into shark-tooth-smile territory.

"Payment plan?"

"It's an option that gets you the parts you need right away at a fraction of the cost!" the man said proudly.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch! You get it right away!"

"You're lying. Tell me what the catch is." Renbra sternly said.

"Why would I lie to you—the customer?" the man asked, clearly hiding something.

Renbra narrowed his eyes at the man. "I'm not going to buy a single thing from your store if you don't tell me the truth."

"I am telling you the truth." the man insisted.

Renbra scowled and looked at a group of people by the store, looking as if they were going to enter. "Hey! Do yourselves a favor and don't buy anything! This man is a liar who sells faulty parts!"

The group of four Humans looked between themselves and Renbra, and went on their way. The man's eyes widened in fear and he sighed in defeat. "Okay. Okay. I get it! You really _do_ get the parts you want right now for much cheaper, but you'll have to make payments on agreed-upon dates until it's fully paid for."

Renbra smirked and said, "Now that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

The man remained silent, wondering what Renbra was going to do. The stormtrooper let the man calm down before saying, "We don't have the money with us right now, and it'll take us a while to do it."

As Renbra haggled with the man, Taddrei absently looked at a clock in the store and his eyes widened on seeing that he only had a few minutes to meet up with Ral. He tapped on Manrica's shoulder, who jerked and put one of the Scroll devices back on the shelf. "I wasn't going to—!"

"Shh. Let Renbra know that I have to meet with Ral." Taddrei ordered.

"Oh…Okay. You got it boss." the stormtrooper replied, even adding a thumbs-up for good measure.

"And for the record, I saw you eyeing that since we walked over to this part of the store." Taddrei said, turning around and quickly walking out.

As he made his way through the mall to the exit, he noticed a lot of other stores that he had never seen before in other parts of the galaxy. There was even a store that looked like it sold clothes just for women…until he looked at the mannequins and posters. _O…kay. Moving on.._ he thought on seeing exactly what kinds of clothes that particular store sold.

Taddrei left the Valechase Mall and looked around for the CCTS tower. Not seeing it anywhere, he ran around in one direction, before changing his mind and running in the other direction. _Agh, no good. I'm gonna be late to meet Ral…_ he thought before seeing the girl that ran into him earlier, as well as the blonde girl. _…Manrica would never let me hear the end of it if he saw this._ he thought as he approached the two girls.

"Huh? Oh, it's you. Uh…I'm sorry for running into you earlier." the girl once again apologized.

"It's fine. I was just wondering if either of you knew where the CCTS tower is?"

The blond girl tilted her shoulder to her right and said, "It's over that way. We're heading over there ourselves to call our dad."

"Thank you." Taddrei said, quickly walking in the direction the blond girl pointed him toward.

"You're welcome!" the blond girl called as Taddrei borderline ran off.

"That guy seems pretty lost if you ask me." the blonde commented.

"Must be new to Vale." the younger girl replied.

Taddrei lightly jogged in the direction he was pointed to until he saw the CCTS. With it now in his sight, he picked up the pace, running faster through the streets until he found himself in the main courtyard of the tower. His eyebrows knit together in wonder on seeing a lot of young men and women in uniforms of some sort. _Probably a school or something._ he dismissed, looking around for Ral.

"Koa, over here." Ral said, with Taddrei looking in the direction of the Jedi's voice.

"Sorry about that, R—Jonquil. I got lost for a bit." Taddrei said, leaning over with his hands on his knees and lightly panting.

"I can tell." Ral replied with a light smile.

"So where's this concert?"

"It's starting in about an hour." Ral replied.

"Then why have me meet you so early?" Taddrei asked in slight annoyance.

"To get good seats."

"It's that big of an event?"

"Anything involving a Schnee is big."

Ral led Taddrei away from the courtyard, with Taddrei eventually feeling like the Jedi was just as lost as he was. "Where are we going? I feel like I've seen that building two times already." he asked, growing frustrated.

"It was quite far from the CCTS, I admit, but I wanted to meet in a place that you could easily find or get directions to," Ral explained as they walked toward a building with a line forming near the entrance. "Looks like other people want good seats."

When they reached the building, the current line thinned a bit as a few people were picked out and led inside. "What's with the picking and choosing?" Taddrei asked.

"This is a _very_ secure event. Not just anyone can be let in. Most people need to have bought their tickets weeks ago to be let in right as they show up. Others…need to wait." 

"And that means us." Taddrei finished.

"Not quite. I will need to see who the guard is first to decide." Ral said, leaving Taddrei confused.

 _Every time he says something, more questions come up…_ Taddrei thought.

As they approached the guard, the man kept a neutral expression, but they could see that his stance indicated otherwise. _Is the Schnee family really hated this much that even the guards are clearly tense?_ Taddrei thought.

"Tickets." the guard stated, holding out a hand.

Ral paused for a very brief statement before casually waving his hand. "You don't need to see our tickets."

"…I _do_ need to see your tickets." the guard replied, raising an eyebrow.

Ral paused again before being much more subtle about waving his hand. "You do not need to see our tickets."

The guard stiffened ever so slightly before relaxing. "…I don't need to see your tickets." he absently said.

Ral smiled a pleased smile and waved his hand more confidently. "You will let us through, and give us empty VIP seats."

"I will let you through and give you empty VIP seats." the guard droned, stepping aside and waving them through, much to the shock of Taddrei and just about everyone else in line.

"What?! You just told me that you have to check everyone's tickets! And you're just _giving_ them VIP seats?! What is wrong with you?" someone protested as Ral quickly led an extremely confused Taddrei inside the building's lobby.

Taddrei looked around to make sure no one was around before grabbing Ral's shoulder. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Ral asked innocently.

"You know, the uh… _thing_ with that guard. How did you do that? He owe you big-time or something?"

"The Force, while weakened in this world, still has its uses. With the proper training, a Jedi can use it to 'influence' the weak-minded."

"So you can make people do what you want because they are too stupid to resist?" Taddrei asked, thinking it a little sad.

"No. Intelligence has nothing to do with it. The weaker the will of an individual, the more…agreeable."

Taddrei nodded, thinking he understood before a thought entered his mind. "Wait. You haven't done that to any of us, have you?"

"You haven't given me a reason to, and…well, I doubt I could do it to a few of you," Ral said, with Taddrei quietly sighing in relief. "We should really find our seats before the guard realizes what he did and comes looking for us."

Ral and Taddrei entered the concert-room to reveal quite the set-up. A very large stage, complete with a hug array of instruments near the back set at the opposite end of the auditorium. Taddrei quickly lost count of how many seats there were, as well as how many people were already seated.

"This starts an hour from now?"

"The actual concert starts in about a half hour, but the heiress will make an appearance in an hour." Ral answered.

"Saffron? Mr. Saffron?" a voice asked from in front of them.

Ral looked at the person asking about them and Taddrei nearly froze in panic. In front of them stood Winter Schnee.

Ral naturally bowed his head and smiled at the woman. "Hello, Winter. A pleasure to meet you again."

Winter nodded in response and briefly looked at Taddrei, who only stiffened even more before she looked back at the Jedi.

"It has been been some time since we last met. The last five years have gone by very quickly." Winter said.

"Has it really been five years?" Ral asked, subtly nudging Taddrei.

Taddrei wasn't sure what happened, but he could've sworn that he heard Ral's voice, but he was saying something else completely out of sync with his lips. _"Do not worry, Taddrei. She does not know your face. Relax. As long as you don't let your name or my name slip, she will just see you as another face._ "

"Who is this?" Winter asked, looking at Taddrei, who's spine was at its limit for straightening out.

"This is a friend of mine. Koa, meet Winter. Winter, meet Koa." Ral replied.

Winter lightly smiled at Taddrei and held out a hand. "Hello, Koa."

Taddrei shook hands with Winter, unsure if he should do that weird hand-kissing thing he had seen some higher-class nobles do to ladies, but decided against it. "It's an honor to meet a Schnee." he said, hoping he sounded natural.

"Please, just call me Winter."

"Very well, Winter. It is still an honor to meet you."

Winter lightly smiled and looked back at Ral. "Well, I must go. It was good to see you again." she said, looking at Taddrei one last time before walking away. _Something about Koa seems…familiar. Have we met before?_ she thought.

 _That was too damn close!_ Taddrei thought, finally relaxing and letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"See? You were just another face to her. Nothing to worry about."

"I just wish the Lieutenant had the same luxury." Taddrei muttered.

Ral led Taddrei out of the concert hall. "The VIP section is above us, so we'll probably need to take an elevator. Let me do the talking in case there's another guard." Ral said.

Just as Ral predicted, there was another guard…and another one on the other side of the elevator. _Can Ral do this?_ Taddrei thought, unsure exactly how Jedi mind-tricks worked.

The two guards looked at them for a few seconds before one said, "Do you have a VIP pass?"

"We have a VIP pass." Ral said, carefully waving his hand.

"Alright. Let us see them." the other guard stated.

"You have seen our passes." Ral said, waving his hand once more.

"I have seen your passes." the guards both mumbled, their eyes looking rather dull.

 _That is so wrong._ Taddrei thought as the two guards let them enter the elevator. The doors closed behind them, and the slight lurch of the elevator going up told them that it was moving. Not even ten seconds later, Taddrei found himself thinking that Remnant's elevators were too slow. "Why haven't they invented turbo lifts yet?" he wondered aloud.

"The people rely on the power of Dust. Unless something happens, something tells me that once they achieve space travel, their initial technology will be very different from the rest of the galaxy's tech." Ral replied just before the doors opened, showing another hallway.

"Right this way please, sirs." a man dressed in fancy-looking clothes said, bowing formally.

"No thanks. We know where to go." Ral said politely.

The man bowed again and said, "Very well, sirs. Do let me or one of the other workers know if you require anything."

Ral nodded and said, "Thank you."

"A pleasure to serve, sirs."

Ral and Taddrei re-entered the concert hall, only for Taddrei to see the auditorium from a much higher angle. "How high up are we?" he asked.

"We went to the top floor. We're about two floors high now." 

"It took that long to go up two floors?!" Taddrei whispered.

Ral leaned toward the ex-Imperial and whispered, "Between you and me, I've had ten years to get used to it, but I still get frustrated about how slow they are."

They walked toward one of the private booths and Ral led Taddrei to a pair of seats in the back. "These seats are usually the last VIP seats given out. If someone shows up, just get up and we'll find another spot." he whispered.

Taddrei and Ral sat down and quietly waited for the concert to begin. They both had a feeling that it would start when the quiet conversations around them stopped and everything in the room was silent. A large display flickered to life just over the stage, showing that there were people sitting where there were only instruments, with more people holding smaller instruments of various shapes and sizes.

Ral pulled out a Scroll and turned it on, with barely any light coming from it. Taddrei looked at it to see images of the many instruments as Ral quietly told him of each one. "This is so you don't look like a fool should anyone see us and try to talk to me. More than likely, it'll be about the concert, and they may even ask you about it. In their eyes, anyone who not only knows me by name, but is also with me is someone worth knowing."

"No pressure, right?" Taddrei said sarcastically.

"No pressure at all." Ral replied with an equally dry tone.

A lone man walked out from behind the stage and walked to the center of it, a group of lights focusing on him. He bowed deeply, getting a light round of applause. He turned around and a podium rose from beneath the floor. He picked up a small stick and tapped on the podium a few times and held his hands up, the musicians seemingly preparing their instruments.

"Prepare for a snooze-fest," Ral whispered just as the orchestra all sounded out a _very_ loud note, making many people in the audience jolt in their seats, Ral included. "I take it back." the Jedi muttered.

The orchestra continued to play for quite a while, with Taddrei slowly losing interest. _Humph. Maybe if they had someone swimming and dancing around in a big ball of water, then maybe this'd be more interesting._ he thought.

"Getting bored yet?" Ral asked when he noticed Taddrei nodding off, shaking the stormtrooper out of his sleepiness.

"Just a little."

The orchestra held out a really long note, making Taddrei wonder how the musicians using their breath for their instruments weren't passing out. Once the note ended, the conductor made a crisp motion, ending the music. He turned around, showing a surprising amount of sweat on his face for just waving his arms around and bowed deeply to the people. The audience clapped their hands for a good while until silence took over as a single girl walked onto the stage. It was hard to see the girl due to the shadows mostly hiding her, but she was growing easier to see as she walked to where a large spotlight was focused.

"Is that her?" Taddrei asked.

Ral looked up at the TV screen and took note of the girl's appearance. "White hair, blue eyes…scar trailing her left eye. Yeah, that's her."

"Where's her instrument?" Taddrei whispered.

Ral smiled and tapped his throat two times. "She's quite the singer from what I've been told."

The audience remained completely silent as Weiss walked to where the conductor stood. She politely nodded at him, with the man bowing deeply before turning back to face the orchestra. Weiss walked past the man and into the light near the front of the stage.

The lights that were on the conductor switched over from him to Weiss, nearly leaving the conductor and orchestra in complete darkness.

Weiss gracefully walked up to the microphone and stopped, seemingly waiting for something. A few seconds later, a voice rang out over the auditorium. "Ladies and gentlemen, The Schnee Dust Company would like to thank you for coming today. As we near the end of this concert, our very own heiress will sing in the finale. Everyone, let us welcome…Weiss Schnee."

The audience politely clapped, with Weiss waiting for the noise to end before subtly nodding her head to her right. A lone piano began to play a rather somber solo, with Weiss beginning to sing.

Taddrei was surprised at the girl's voice. It was surely one of the best voices he had ever heard, which was saying something, considering that he had heard some amazing performances by Bith—the galaxy's most thought-of race when it came to music. He wasn't too sure about the words, what with Weiss seemingly asking a mirror, 'who's the loneliest of all?' asked Ral what she was singing about.

"It's a reference to an old fairy tale, I believe. Something about a magic mirror that could reveal what was truly inside of an individual, and could even answer questions like 'who is the fairest one of all?' The owner of the mirror, an extremely vain queen, grew jealous when the mirror said that there was someone fairer than she. I don't know much else about the story, but the queen dies trying to kill the one who stole her position as the fairest in her kingdom." Ral replied. As he spoke, the orchestra slowly began to play, with the strings suddenly picking up speed and Weiss sang once more.

"Is the mirror real?" Taddrei asked.

"Of course not. It's a fairy tale for a reason."

"Hey, could you two be quiet?" a voice in front of them harshly whispered.

The two stopped talking for a bit, neither one of them saying a word until after Weiss finished her performance. The last line in her song, Taddrei looked at her—not at the TV screen—and felt that she was looking back at him. In that brief moment as the words, "I'm the loneliest of all." were uttered from her lips, Taddrei felt as if Weiss truly believed that she was alone.

 _The curse of being in a rich family, I suppose._ Taddrei thought sadly as he applauded the heiress. Weiss cut off the last word and paused. She then grabbed at the hem of her skirt and curtsied to the applauding audience.

Weiss turned around and began to walk off the stage, but Ral noticed something suspicious. As the heiress left the stage, a small group of people stood up and quickly made their way to the backstage.

Taddrei was about to ask Ral some questions, but the Jedi cut him off. "If you'll excuse me!" he said, leaping from his seat to the bottom of the section. He landed and vaulted over the short wall keeping people on the front row from falling. A lot of people shouted in alarm, while others looked up to see what the commotion was, with them looking at Ral in shock.

Ral flipped in the air and landed squarely on his feet, pressing down on the ground and using the Force to cushion his fall. Almost instantly after landing, he leapt high into the air and over the crowds until he reached the suspicious group, landing right in front of them. "If you think you were stealthy in anyway in this poor attempt at an assassination, you are sorely mistaken." Ral said, taking a stance.

The people in the group briefly looked at each other before charging the lone Jedi. Ral leapt into the air, hurtling back down, preparing a Force push as he went. The moment he landed on the ground, he released the built up power in his hands right into the ground, sending a shockwave that knocked over the entire group. The assassins surrounded Ral, who swiftly dealt with each attacker using only his hands and feet. One assassin tried to grab him from behind; but the Jedi sensed the attempt, flipping the man onto his back and stomping him into unconsciousness.

Ral leaped back into the air and took note of the remaining assassins. _Hmm…They're Faunus. White Fang, most likely._ he thought as he plummeted back to the ground, landing squarely on one of the Faunus' shoulders. He reared his weight back, causing the man to fall on his back. Two Faunus attempted to hit Ral from either side, but the Jedi vaulted over one's shoulder and shoved him into his fellow attacker, sending both of them sprawled out onto the floor.

"You're a Hunter!" one of the assassins yelled, quickly turning around to run, but was knocked over by a guard with white armor, bearing a snowflake symbol on the chest.

The failed assassination attempt was quickly dismantled, and every would-be assassin was quickly cuffed. One of the guards leaned toward one of the assassins and said, "Faunus scum."

Ral felt a quick flare of anger and sadness, but repressed it, knowing where such emotions could easily lead him. _I'd be no better than…_ him. _I won't let myself be swayed by the dark side!_

Winter quickly arrived with a pair of guards wearing the same white armor as the others, with Taddrei lingering behind. "What happened here?"

One of the guards looked at Winter and said, "Some filthy Faunus tried to kill your sister. Were it not for this man, they probably would've attacked her."

Winter looked at Ral who causally waved at her. She lightly smiled and said, "You have my thanks for saving my sister." _Weiss can handle herself, but it's better she not be attacked while she's unarmed._ she thought.

Ral shrugged and replied, "I doubt they just happened to be going in the same direction as the heiress."

"Judging by their reactions, it would seem that you were correct in your assumptions." Winter said.

"What happened?" a voice asked, with all eyes settling on Weiss, who just walked out from behind the stage.

Winter gestured a hand to Ral and said, "Mr. Saffron here just fought off a group of assassins."

"Were they here for me?" Weiss asked.

"I can only assume so." Ral said, with Weiss looking at the Faunus attackers and glaring at them.

 _Sheesh. If looks could kill…_ Taddrei thought on seeing the hateful look on the girl's face.

"They won't be bothering you, Miss Schnee. I do hope that you will stay safe." Ral said, bowing and turning around.

"Mr. Saffron, before you go, may I speak with your…companion?" Winter said, with Taddrei assuming the worst.

 _She knows!_ the ex-Imperial thought in panic.

Ral paused and looked at Winter, quickly prodding at her surface thoughts before saying, "Go ahead."

Taddrei looked at Ral, feeling betrayed as Winter led him away. "This has been bothering since I saw you with Ral, but have we met before? I swear, your voice is familiar."

Taddrei nervously swallowed and said, "Uh…No. I don't believe we've ever met." he lied.

"Are you sure? I feel like we have met very recently."

Taddrei shook his head insistently. "No. This is my first time meeting any one in your family. I must say, getting to meet both you and your sister in the same day is something I never would've ever thought would happen."

Winter scrunched her face in contemplation, but then nodded. "I must have confused your for someone else. I apologize for bothering you."

Taddrei shrugged in a way he hoped was natural and said, "No problem."

As Winter walked away, Taddrei felt himself deflate, never having felt more relieved in his life. _That was stressful!_

Ral walked up to Taddrei and said, "Let's go."

"What? But what happened to setting up contacts?"

"In a way, you have." Ral said, turning around and walking toward the exit.

Taddrei walked alongside Ral, feeling annoyance at feeling lied to by a _Jedi_ of all people. "I don't think mentally freaking out while talking to Winter is setting up a contact. The only thing I saw was you using this as a chance to 'save the damsel.'" he pointed out.

"She now knows your new name…and she has expressed some sort of interest in you. All you have to do now is find a more reliable way to speak with her, and you have a contact." Ral replied, ignoring Taddrei's latter comment.

As they left the building, Taddrei sighed. "I hate you, old man."

 **Once again, I'm sorry for the much later than usual post. This one came a lot slower than I thought. Combined with college starting up, I don't have nearly as much time. With the new semester, I likely won't post stuff as often.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's a new chapter. Hope you enjoy it!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 9: Night Fire**

It had been quite a day for both of the Schnee sisters. Winter had to deal with an unwanted interview to talk about those mysterious soldiers, while Weiss had a concert that could've ended with an assassination. Weiss could handle herself, but she was unarmed during her performance, and hand-to-hand was definitely not her forté.

Winter sighed as she approached her younger sister, letting out her frustrations at not finding anything about Tray or his companions. She put those thoughts out of her mind as she and her sister stood in front of each other. "Hello, Weiss." Winter said in a much warmer tone than most would think.

"Hey, sis." Weiss replied with a smile.

"You did really well tonight. You have a really good singing voice." Winter praised, starting to walk, with Weiss walking alongside her.

"Thank you…What was the deal with those assassins?" Weiss asked.

"Just some White Fang members thinking they could harm you. Obviously, thanks to Mister Saffron, that didn't happen."

"First, he saves you, then saves me." Weiss commented.

"Yes. He is really good at saving people."

Weiss felt a small skip in her step, but quickly calmed down when she became aware of it. "Enough about me. How have you been? It's been what; three months since we last saw each other?"

"Four, actually," Winter replied. "Things have been going very well until today."

Weiss looked at her sister in concern and said, "What happened? Did the White Fang go after you too?" Winter felt a small touch of sadness on hearing the subtle anger in her younger sister's voice.

"No. It has nothing to do with the White Fang. Have you seen the news at all today?" Winter answered.

"No. I've been busy preparing for the concert."

"This morning, one of Atlas' bases was infiltrated, and a prison break ensued."

"How many prisoners escaped?" Weiss asked, hoping that it wasn't too bad.

"Not very many, thankfully, but Roman Torchwick managed to escape again. The strangest thing is, we don't have _any_ information on the people who did this." 

"None at all?" Weiss asked incredulously. "Birth certificates? Medical records? Facial recognition?" she asked, with Winter shaking her head at each suggestion.

"The only info we have about the people who did it is only down to the name and face of one of them; with the others having their names known, but not their faces." Winter explained.

"How does this affect you? Some people are born outside of the kingdoms with no records." Weiss said dismissively.

"That's the thing. Those people always have at least _something_ to show databases that they exist. Scroll usage, Dust purchases, and things like that. These infiltrators…have no previous records. It's almost like they just…appeared."

"Hmm…Is Atlas investigating this?"

"Yes, and General Ironwood has put me in charge."

Weiss thought over what she had heard and said, "When I return to Atlas, I will let our father know about this. Maybe he can help."

"I'm not so sure about that, Weiss. You know he's extremely busy."

"…It's worth a try isn't it?"

"I suppose." Winter replied.

While the bulk of the ex-Imperials wandered throughout Vale, trying to find various sources of income, the rest of them were waiting around in the shuttle. As the night grew darker, Tray settled down in one of the cots. After Trio started to accuse Shejas of cheating in pazaak, Tray wisely decided to end the game, and put them on separate ends of the shuttle. Shejas sat in the cockpit, his modified blaster at arms length at all times, while Trio sulked in the medical bay. Tray set down a few blankets and pillows for them, as well as more for himself and the non-combatants. As he lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling, he found the time to do something he hadn't focused much on.

Thinking.

Oh, the love-hate relationship he had with his mind when it grew idle. He didn't mind thinking when it had to do with something he was doing. It was when he allowed his mind to wander, did he grow to dislike himself. After wrestling with his thoughts, he finally found the blissful paradise that is sleep.

But this would be a most restless night for Tray.

He had no idea where he was when he opened his eyes, but it didn't bother him. He somehow knew where he was, yet had no name to his surroundings. After looking around, he noticed the planet of Mandalore…Well, 'on' was probably not the correct word. The word 'above' was more appropriate. All he knew was that he was onboard some sort of vessel.

As he wandered around the surprisingly small vessel, he found that it was devoid of life except for him. As he neared the bridge of the ship, he saw a burnt corpse that was slowly rotting, indicating that whoever's body it was had died some time ago. Slightly perturbed, he walked past the corpse and entered the ship's bridge, seating himself at the controls. He pushed a few buttons on the dashboard, and a small display appeared, showing letters that were noticeably not Galactic Basic. Unable to translate the foreign language, he stood up and turned around to see a pod that he hadn't noticed before.

Tray walked up to the pod and tried to peer past the layer of ice over the glass. He wasn't able to get any clear images, but there was something in there. He looked to the right of the pod and saw a lever. Figuring that it had to be a release, he grabbed the lever and pulled on it.

"Manual override activated. Please step back." an automated, but distinctly female voice said, surprisingly in Basic.

 _Why have non-Basic letters, but have the system speak Basic?_ Tray thought.

The ice covering the pod slowly began to thaw—too slowly for Tray's tastes. Most cryopods would've thawed out by now.

When the ice thawed enough for Tray to see inside the pod, he peered inside it once more to see a child. He may not know much about it, but he knew that putting children in a cryopod was not safe by any stretch of the imagination.

Part of the pod slid open and the child stumbled out and fell to the ground before Tray could catch him. Even though there was a huge age difference, Tray somehow knew that the child he was holding…was a younger Tray, likely not older than ten years.

"Are you alright?" Tray asked in a voice that was not his own.

 _Wait…That's my dad's voice!_ Tray thought in realization.

The child-Tray looked up at him in fear, shivering from just exiting a cryopod.

"Where…Where am I?" child-Tray asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Tray asked, once again speaking with his father's voice.

 _This is so weird! What's going on?!_ he thought, wondering why he was seeing this.

"I want my dad!" child-Tray sobbed.

"Shh. Shh…Calm down," Tray's father said, trying to comfort the boy. "What were you doing in that pod?"

"Dad…Daddy told me to get in and wait for him to come back. It got really cold, but then I…I woke up. Where's my dad?"

Tray's father's eyes softened. That rotting corpse he found earlier in the ship must've been the boy's father. He hugged Tray tightly and said, "He's in a better place."

Child-Tray's shivering grew more intense, clearly knowing the meaning behind the older man's words.

Tray woke up with a start, banging his head on the make-shift pazaak table. He clutched at his throbbing forehead, trying to figure out what he had seen. As he grasped at the remainders of his memory of the dream, Shejas poked his head into the room. "What happened?"

"…Nothing."

Shejas walked into the room and grabbed one of the chairs from the former pazaak table, reversing it and sitting down with his arms resting on the back of the chair. "When ever you say it's nothing, it's something; so what's the nothing?" he snarked.

Tray paused, wondering how to describe what he could remember. "I found myself on a ship that I've never been on, yet I…found myself there."

Shejas blinked and rubbed a hand over his head. "You'll have to be more specific than that," He cracked a grin and added, "You're starting to sound like you're taking to that Jedi's philosophy."

"No, I literally found _myself_ on that ship. I was looking through who I think was my dad's eyes, finding me as a kid."

"Wait what?! You were adopted?! Why didn't you tell me that?"

"I didn't know I was adopted either…Am I?" Tray replied.

"Well…I guess it was just a dream. Don't let it bother you so much. If it helps, I had a dream where a gundark jumped from underground and bit off my left hand, but I just casually put it in a bag and showed it to my dad." Shejas dismissed.

Tray blankly stared at Shejas' description of one of his dreams and said, "…I guess you're right. It was just a dream."

Shejas tapped on the back of the chair and stood up. "Welp, I'm going back to the cockpit." He turned around to leave, but Tray stopped him.

"Why were you awake? It's way past midnight." Tray pointed out.

Shejas tilted his head to the medical bay. "You saw how mad Trio was at me over pazaak, right? I don't know how to sleep with one eye open, so I'm just gonna stay up, playing pazaak. Alone…and armed." he said, showing Tray that he had his personal blaster hidden in his jacket.

"Well…don't die." Tray joked, with Shejas blowing a raspberry-sound at his human friend.

Shejas left the main room of the shuttle, leaving Tray alone. Tray lay back in his make-shift bed and stared at the ceiling for a bit before closing his eyes. Try as he might, he couldn't go back to sleep.

Taddrei couldn't believe it. This whole thing about dragging him to a concert "I hate you, old man." Taddrei said once again, with the Jedi's amused smirk only growing each time he said it.

"Is it so bad that I didn't want to sit through that concert by myself?" Ral said innocently.

Taddrei glared at the Jedi and said, "I do _not_ like being lied to. I thought your kind was honest."

Ral slightly looked away in shame, knowing exactly what Taddrei meant by 'your kind.' Sensing the anger and frustration in Taddrei, Ral waited for a bit before saying something else. "I apologize for lying to you…Where is the rest of your group?" he asked after waiting for the stormtrooper to calm down.

"…Uh…"

Elsewhere, the group was looking for Taddrei. "This is getting ridiculous! Where _are_ they!?" Katlin yelled, growling near the end in frustration.

"Calm down, Ka—Viola," Manrica said calmly. "Jonquil and Koa will be here," He looked around until his eyes settled on what looked like a bank. _Jackpot!_ he mentally sang. "Guys, I think our problems are over." he proudly announced.

"Really?" Brenver asked.

"Look." Manrica said, pointing toward the bank, only for a silent groan to wave over the squad.

"We're not going to steal." Katlin stated.

"Ah come on! It wouldn't be that bad, right guys?" Manrica asked, only to get a resounding, "NO!" from the others.

"Guys! Over here!" Taddrei yelled from across the street, waving them over.

The squad saw their current leader, along with Ral. While not all of the squad were sure about the Jedi's motives, the rest either didn't care or were glad that he was helping instead of fighting them.

"We need to find a place for the night. Even though we're a large group, it's not always safe for Humans to travel the streets at night." Ral said as he and Taddrei approached.

"Why? What now?" Renbra asked.

"A group called White Fang. For now, just know that they hate Humans." Ral said.

"How much do they hate humans?" Katlin asked.

"You don't want to run into a group of them by yourself. Highly probable that you wouldn't walk away." Ral said, with the ex-Imperials nervously looking around.

"Their more extreme members shouldn't be out and about quite yet, but it never hurts to find a hotel sooner rather than later," Ral said. "I know a decent one that won't cost too much." he continued.

The Imperials looked at each other as Ral walked away and shrugged, following the Jedi. They soon reached a building, quickly seeing it as a hotel. When they entered, some of them were half-expecting some sort of cantina inside, but were greeted by…silence.

"It's pretty quiet in here." Taddrei whispered to Ral.

"This is a very different life from what you're used to." Ral replied.

The Jedi walked up to a desk with a man sitting behind it. "How may I help you?" he asked.

Ral did a quick headcount of the group and said, "Three rooms. One night."

The man smiled and handed Ral three small packets with some cards in them. Ral paid the man and stepped away from the desk and walked over to the Imperials. "Here are your keys." he said, handing Taddrei the three packets.

"These are cards." Taddrei pointed out.

"Key cards," Ral added. "You get two per room, and four people can stay in each room."

Taddrei counted the group's numbers and raised an eyebrow. "We have enough for just two rooms. Why three?"

Ral smiled and said, "I'm not sharing a room with you."

"Wha—ugh…"

"I'm the one paying, am I not?" Ral replied, his smile turning into a cheeky smirk.

"I hate you, old man." Taddrei said for the third time that night.

"I'm not _that_ old…" Ral muttered.

"Uh…What happened between you two?" Brenver asked.

"Ra—Jonquil here wasn't really going to help us set up some contacts. He knew that someone would try to assassinate the heiress of SDC, so he went there to stop it. He brought me along since he didn't want to sit through the concert by himself." Taddrei explained.

Manrica snorted in amusement and was clearly holding back his laughter.

"Shut it." Taddrei said, walking away.

"Our rooms are _that_ way." Ral said, pointing in the opposite direction that the youngest stormtrooper went.

"I knew that." Taddrei said as he walked back, and brushed past them.

 _He doesn't seem like the kind of person to easily get angry. Did something else happen when he was away?_ Katlin thought.

When they reached the doors to their rooms, Taddrei had the group gather around and he quietly split them up using their real names. "Alright, here's how we're splitting our rooms. Brenver and Katlin, we'll be sharing a room. Renbra, Soltrev, and Manrica will share the other one. Ral will apparently have his own room."

"Hey, how come you two get the girl?" Manrica complained, with Katlin narrowing her eyes at the thief.

"Even if the galaxy depended on it, I would _never_ share a room with you." Katlin growled.

Manrica surprisingly looked taken aback and said, "Geez. What'd I ever do to you, doc?"

"It's not what you've done to _me_. You're a thief, and thieves are nothing but low-life scum who should rot in prison." Katlin said, glaring at Manrica.

Taddrei stood between the two and said, "Enough! You two are staying in different rooms, so there's no need to act like you are sharing the same room."

Katlin glared at Manrica one last time before taking one of the key cards from Taddrei and walked up to the hotel door. She looked at the doorknob and saw something that looked to be where the card was inserted. She saw a small diagram and lined it up with the card. She put the card into the small slot, and a red light switched to green, and the lock noticeably clicked.

Katlin pushed the door inward and stepped a foot into the room. Brenver and Taddrei exchanged looks before stepping forward to enter the room before Katlin stopped them. "Let me take a shower first."

"We're not going to peek. Promise." Brenver said.

Katlin paused before stepping aside and letting the two in, closing and locking the door behind them. Now that the three could take a better look at the hotel room, it actually seemed pretty comfortable. Two beds sat next to each other, separated by a decent gap with a night desk crammed between them. The first thing they noticed about the bed was the nearly absurd amount of pillows.

"Katlin, you can have one bed to yourself. Brenver and I will take the other one." Taddrei said.

Katlin's eyes softened and she quietly sighed. "I'll be taking that shower now." she said, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door. Taddrei and Brenver stood around in awkward silence until Brenver spoke up "Manrica, huh? We're going to have to keep an eye on him. Who knew that he was such a thief?"

Katlin apparently overheard this and opened the door, poking just her head out of the door. "He's not just a thief. He showed signs of kleptomania." she stated.

"Uh…In Basic please?"

"He can't _help_ but steal. I think personally it's just an excuse for theft, but no one's really been able to disprove that ever since it became a thing millennia ago. He sees something, and if he get's the urge to steal it, he has a _very_ hard time resisting. Sometimes, I feel sorry him…until he talks." Katlin said, her head disappearing back into the bathroom when she finished.

"So…a kleptomaniac. I hope he doesn't cause us any problems." Brenver said.

"Yeah."

Brenver crossed his arms and said, "So what really happened between you and the Jedi?"

"Like I said, he lied about what he was really doing so he wouldn't be by himself."

"But…?" Brenver said, waiting for the younger man to continue.

"He did…something to the guards."

Brenver cocked an eyebrow. "Go on."

"He would wave his hand in front of him and say something like, 'You don't need to see our tickets.' and the guard would say, 'I don't need to see your tickets.' It was almost like he just took over their minds." Taddrei explained.

"Ah. A Jedi mind-trick. Haven't heard of those in a while."

Taddrei looked at Brenver in confusion "You've met a Jedi before?"

"Heh. Met one? I've fought them."

"Fought? I know we were stormtroopers, but at this point, finding a Jedi is very rare." Taddrei pointed out.

"You could say that I've aged pretty well. I was around during the Clone Wars." 

"You fought in the Clone Wars?" Taddrei asked, rather excitedly.

"Not really. I was born ten years before the war."

"Then…how did you fight the Jedi? I doubt the Jedi used child-soldiers in the war. I don't know a whole lot about the Jedi, but I do know that using children for soldiers was not in their character. Jedi were peaceful until the war, but even then, they didn't change very much from their ways." Taddrei said, with Brenver's eyes growing dull on hearing how Taddrei summed up what the clone soldiers were at heart.

"Child-soldiers? Don't tell me you actually believe the bullcrap that the Academy taught you about the Clone Wars. The clones weren't children. They grew faster, sure, but they were fully grown men by the time they were deployed in the war." Brenver explained.

"You sure know a lot about the clones." Taddrei mused.

"Of course I do. I _am_ a clone."

Taddrei shook his head and snorted. "Very funny. You don't look anything like the clone troopers. Besides, shouldn't you look, I don't know, _old_ by now?"

Brenver shrugged and held up a hand, counting out a list as he spoke. "Facial reconstruction, cybernetics, and I was a mistake."

Taddrei nodded in understanding, but said, "Wait, you were a mistake? I thought clones didn't have parents."

"Heh. No, not _that_ kind of mistake," Brenver said. "A mistake in my genetic programming made me not get the same kinds of modifications as the rest of my brothers. There were no negative effects, but I aged at a normal rate, instead of growing twice as fast as ordinary people. With the face change, I'm a clone trooper in name alone now…"

"Wow. Just…wow. You're a clone trooper. Who would've thought?"

"Just between you and me, I'd prefer it if you kept quiet about this," Brenver said, patting Taddrei's shoulder. "It'll be our little secret. For now."

"Secret. Yeah. Sounds good." Taddrei said, still shocked about this news.

Katlin walked out of the bathroom looking much cleaner than she had since they had first arrived on Remnant. "Bathroom's open." she said.

Brenver and Taddrei looked at each other, with Taddrei gesturing to the clone to go first.

Brenver walked into the bathroom and Katlin sat on her bed across from Taddrei. "What were you two talking about?" she asked.

"Mostly about how Manrica had better not cause us any problems."

"Ugh. I can't stand him. Between you and me, I think Trio should've come along instead of him."

"Nah, he would've tried to beat the mess out of the first few people we met here."

Katlin smiled and said, "Would he really?"

"Maybe, maybe not. You never know with him. Some days, he's more like a typical Mandalorian. Other days, he's more like the way he used to be."

"Used to?"

Taddrei sat down on his and Brenver's bed and leaned forward. "He wasn't always obsessed with the Mandalorians. He used to be…kind of nice actually."

Katlin nodded, letting the stormtrooper continue.

"I just wish he could stop acting like something he'll never be, and act like who he truly is, you know?"

Katlin nodded and said, "Do you think there is a reason why he grew obsessed with Mandalorians?"

"For his childhood obsession, I don't really know. Sure, he got in a lot of fights at school, and even the Imperial Academy on Onderon, but I don't really know how it first happened. He _did_ get saved once by a Mandalorian a few months ago though. It happened before we found the _Equinox_ , actually. Trio got drunk and I tried to get him out of the bar, but he decided to pick a fight with a Trandoshan. I got knocked to the side at the start, but when I back up, the Trandoshan had both of his hands around Trio's neck and—"

"Stop talking." Katlin said sternly.

"Wha…"

"You're clearly not ready to talk about this yet. We hardly even know each other. This is not the time, nor the place to be talking about this kind of thing." Katlin explained.

"I guess you're right."

"You and…Karat didn't say anything…compromising, did you?"

"We just talked about Ro's…love of stealing. That's all."

"Good. We don't know if there are cameras of some sort here or not."

"You don't have to be so paranoid, Katlin. This isn't the Empire."

"Shh!"

"What's your problem with this place? Not even the Empire monitored hotel rooms. If Ral brought us here for the night, he must have some measure of trust in this place." Taddrei reasoned.

Katlin thought over this and sighed, her shoulders slumping for the first time since Taddrei had ever seen her. _She must be more tired than she's letting on._

Before Taddrei could ask if she was okay, Brenver walked out of the bathroom, shirtless.

"Uh…where's your jumpsuit?" Taddrei asked, while Katlin looked away.

"Oh, I left it in there. I don't think it'd be a good idea to wash it out of the rooms, so I'm letting it soak in the sink with some soapy, warm water." The clone replied, with Taddrei only now noticing that the man had a very similar voice to the infamous clone troopers. People could say what they want about the controversy surrounding Order 66 and the clone army, but Taddrei still held a load of respect for the clones for their loyalty to a Republic they owed nothing to.

"That's a good idea. When you're done, I think I'll do that." Taddrei said, stepping into the bathroom.

Brenver sat down on the bed where Taddrei once was and kicked his feet onto the bed, leaning back into the pillows on his side of the bed. "Hooph…This feels pretty good." he said.

"I probably won't need this many pillows." Katlin replied.

"I'll take them."

Katlin picked out all but two of the pillows and handed them to Brenver. "What do you think of Taddrei's leadership?" she asked.

"Dunno. We haven't really needed him to do anything. Sure, he's split us up, but I wouldn't really compare shopping and sleeping buddies to be tactical decisions." Brenver said.

"Perhaps, but notice how he had Manrica come with him and Renbra?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"We all know by now that Manrica is a thief, and a good one at that. Renbra grew up in Kessel's spice-mines, though, so he would know what to look out for. He also sent me to look for medical supplies, while you and Soltrev looked at any weapons stores if there were any in that mall."

"So?"

"In a way, he split us up according to what we knew. My medical knowledge would help me to find where these people were, medically speaking, while your and Soltrev's knowledge around weapons would help you know where Remnant stood. Renbra's skills with machines would've helped him to make an estimate on what would work with our technology. I know that my role as a medic was obvious, while Renbra told Taddrei about his background, but how did he know about your and Soltrev's skills with weaponry?" Katlin rambled.

"I…don't know," Brenver admitted. "Tray might see something in him that we don't. I can't really think of any other reason why he'd pick the youngest and most inexperienced of us to lead in his stead."

"Speaking of Tray, what do you think about him?" Katlin asked.

"I don't know what to think about him. He hasn't been in charge long enough for me to make up my mind what I think of him." Brenver answered.

Taddrei walked out of the bathroom, also not wearing his jumpsuit, but put his shirt and pants back on. "Ah…That shower felt pretty good. Guess this planet won't be so bad after all."

"You're making that decision after one shower?" Katlin droned.

"Lighten up, Katlin. You don't have to be so cold all the time." Brenver politely chided.

Katlin lightly nodded her head before leaning back in her bed. "I'm sorry if you two want to talk, but I'd prefer to go to bed sooner rather than later. Today's been pretty stressful."

"Yeah. Nearly getting shot down by a bird, getting captured and broken out of prison, and now we have to blend in. Has it really been only one day?" Taddrei said.

"Hard to believe it, but it has." Brenver said, kicking his feet off the floor and sliding to the other side of his bed.

Taddrei crawled into bed, but noticed a chair in the corner. A big, comfy-looking chair. "You know what? I think I'll sleep on the chair."

Brenver and Katlin exchanged looks between each other and Taddrei, with Brenver saying, "Why sleep in a chair when you have a bed? Sure, it's not all to yourself, but this bed is pretty nice."

"I've always preferred chairs for some reason." Taddrei said, taking two pillows and getting out of bed. He set the smaller pillow under his neck, and put the larger one between him and the armrest, kicking his feet on top of a stool with the same fabric pattern as the chair. Once he settled in, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

While things were rather calm for those three, Soltrev and Renbra would not have it so easy.

"It's party time!" Manrica loudly announced once the door to their room shut.

"Manrica, no. It's been a long day, so we should all get some sleep." Soltrev mumbled, picking out a bed and throwing his shirt onto a small chair in the room.

"Pfft. Sleep's for the weak." Manrica said dismissively, checking out the room.

"If you take _anything_ , we're taking you back to the shuttle," Renbra growled, slapping Manrica's hand as he tried to pocket some lien that was clearly left behind. "I swear, we'd be less conspicuous with Shejas."

"Aw…It's there, and not in the owner's hand, so why shouldn't we take it? Finder's keepers, I always say." Manrica protested.

"Nothing that was in this room will be going out. Got it?" Renbra said sternly.

"Fine. Be that way, but you realize we don't leave this planet without acquiring some…things." Manrica pouted.

"Soltrev, I'm going to take a shower if this bathroom has one. Keep an eye on Manrica would ya?" Renbra said, entering the bathroom as he finished speaking.

Soltrev sighed and lightly hopped onto his bed, planting his feet on the floor and leaning down to rest his face in his hands. After a few seconds, he looked up at the night table between the two beds. "Hmm? What's this?" he muttered, looking at something with various objects printed onto it. He picked it up and saw what looked like letters of some kind. _That's odd. These people speak Basic, but this language…It's nothing like Basic._ he thought.

"What's that?" Manrica asked, looking over Soltrev's shoulder, startling him.

"Gah! Don't do that!" Soltrev scolded, dropping the colored object. He picked it back up and handed it to Manrica.

"This looks like a book of some sort. Not sure why it's mostly images and why it's not printed in Basic, but eh—this planet's weird." Manrica concluded.

"Book? That's a book?" Soltrev asked.

"Yup. Genuine paper too…" Manrica replied.

"You're thinking of stealing it, aren't you?" Soltrev said flatly.

"What? No! Well…kinda. I mean, _paper_ books are pretty rare. We could make a lot of money off of some classic snob somewhere once we regroup with the _Equinox_." Manrica answered.

"Regroup…It's hard to think that we've only officially started the mission for one day. It feels like we've been here for a while." Soltrev said.

"Yeah, no kidding. I'm thinking about just skipping my shower for tonight and taking it in the morning." Manrica said.

Soltrev looked at Manrica with a raised eyebrow, and said, "You? Sleep?"

"Hey, I did a lot of sleeping before we arrived here," Manrica replied, leaning back in his bed. "Welp. Goodnight." he said, closing his eyes.

Renbra walked out of the bathroom, throwing the clothes Ral gave him onto a chair. He walked over to Soltrev and said, "You taking a shower tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tonight."

"Alright."

Soltrev stood up and walked to the bathroom, while Renbra crawled into the other side of the bed that Soltrev just left. He made sure to keep his eyes on Manrica until Soltrev finished his business and walked back out of the bathroom.

When Soltrev and Renbra fell asleep, Manrica's eye shot wide open. He silently crawled out of his bed and swiped the keycard from the desk on his way out.

 _The others may want honest contacts, but I just don't see it that way. Even the most honest people have a skeleton or two in their closet._ he thought as he quietly shut the door and walked away.

Manrica wandered the halls until he found a stair case. _It'll probably be faster than that dumb elevator._ he thought when he saw a family of four walk into the dreadfully slow device. He opened the door and quickly ran down the stairs, walking out from the stairwell and mentally sticking his tongue at the elevator as he left the hotel.

He looked up and frowned a bit on seeing the fragmented moon of Remnant. "A sad sight, isn't it?" a familiar voice said, startling Manrica.

After the spike of adrenaline passed, Manrica saw that Ral was the one that spoke to him. "Don't do that!" the stormtrooper gasped, dramatically clutching at his heart.

Ral smirked and said, "I'm surprised you didn't see me. You were walking straight toward me after all.

"In my defense, I was looking at the moon."

"I can't say I blame you. I have spent many nights wondering how such a thing happened."

"You've been here for…what; ten years? Why haven't you asked someone?"

Ral slowly shook his head. "Whatever happened was either so long ago, no records remain, or perhaps it was such a catastrophic event, that any information regarding it was destroyed."

"So no one knows or remembers?" Manrica asked.

"No."

Manrica nodded in understanding and tried to think of something to say to the Jedi. Thinking of something, he opened his mouth. "So…know any good places to spend a late night other than a hotel?"

Ral thought for a second before a small smile came to his lips. "Well there is one place I can think of."

An hour later, Manrica's hopes grew when they approached a building. He couldn't read the signs, but the images were quite hopeful. Once they got closer, Manrica could _feel_ the music playing inside.

"No way…I didn't think you even _knew_ what a club was." Manrica said, clearly impressed.

"It's not my kind of place, but this is the place to be in Vale at night." Ral replied nonchalantly.

"Well this is _my_ kind of place. People to meet, music to flail around like an idiot to, drinks galore, and most importantly, all kind of bits and baubles that people, er…drop." Manrica said walking toward the door which slid open to his slight surprise. It wasn't quite as fast as the doors he was used to, but he didn't care. When the blast of music hit him, Manrica felt alive. Ral rolled his eyes and walked away as a motorcycle with a blond-haired driver rode up next to the club.

Ral looked at the blonde girl for a second before hiding a smile. _Looks like everyone in that club will be in for a surprise._ he thought, ignoring what he knew was about to happen.

 _Oh yeah, baby!_ Manrica thought when he reached the dance floor. A brief flash of thought passed through his mind that he didn't have to pay to go in, but he pushed that thought out of his mind. He was here to have fun; not think of little details like that! He blended into the crowd, moving between groups, interjecting comments here and there with the occasional insult to someone who was too drunk off the night life to know that the stormtrooper was speaking to them. As he moved through the crowd.

A kleptomaniac thief in a crowded night club? It would be pretty safe to say that some folks left the club that night with a lot less money than they thought they had. Did Manrica feel bad that he was leeching off of others? Perhaps, but the impulse to steal was too hard for him, so he grew to not think of such things.

As he made his rounds through the club, Manrica's eyes settled on a girl dressed very differently from most of the other people. Sure, there were two other girls dressed a little oddly, but a regular told him that they were part of the club staff. This girl didn't seem to follow the fancy dress-code that the other workers seemed to have. His eyes lit up in recognition when he recognized the blonde-haired girl as the one that was with the one that ran into Taddrei earlier today. Shrugging, he quickly forgot the girl and continued enjoying himself.

That is, until he heard a pained groan that silently resonated with all men. He and many others looked in the direction of the disturbance to see that blond girl…manhandling someone. Manrica shuffled a little on seeing how callous the girl seemed to be to this man's plight; but the irony of such a big guy being held in the worst place imaginable by a girl at least a full head and shoulders shorter than he was not lost on the stormtrooper.

The blond girl used her free hand to hold up one of those Scroll things, but Manrica couldn't see what she was showing the man. _Probably a picture of him kissing another girl or something._ he thought.

The man groaned in pain and said, "I've never seen her before! I swear!"

The girl glared at the man and hardened her grip on the man. "Excuse me!?" she growled.

The man's voice hit an octave higher than it probably should and he squeaked out a meager, "I swear…Sir!"

As the large man's family jewels were being crushed, a large number of the fancily-dressed workers ran up to try diffusing the situation, axes in hand.

The blonde girl, apparently nicknamed 'Sir' briefly glanced at the armed guards before looking at the man. "Looks like we have an audience. This must be kind of embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward."

Seemingly encouraged by the guards, the man glared at the girl and said, "Listen, blondie—Sir—if you want to make it out of this club alive, you'll let me go!"

The girl smirked and did as asked, the man slumping over in relief, but clearly still in pain.

 _He's gonna feel that for days._ Manrica thought, slightly pitying the man's plight.

The man sighed and hobbled away, reaching for the pair of ugly red sunglasses that the rest of the workers wore. "You'll pay for that." he growled, with the blond girl innocently following him.

"Oh, Junior, I was just playing around. You don't have to be so sensitive," she said. The man named Junior looked at the girl with an unbelieving look until the girl continued. "Come on, let's kiss and make up, okay?"

Junior gave the girl another look of disbelief, but saw the honest look on the girl's face and shrugged.

"Uh…Okay."

 _It's a trap!_ Manrica wanted to yell as the taller man leaned down, puckering his lips, but the girl's fist flew up in a flash, sending Junior flying unbelievably far, shattering a few lights and a speaker. Manrica's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. _Holy spit! I'd hate to be the poor sap who_ cheats _on her! I don't think those two have ever met before, but_ boy _does she look pissed!_ he thought as he and many others slowly backed away.

On seeing exactly what happened, a few people decided to quickly leave the club, but it was only until Manrica saw the strange bracelet-like things on the blonde girl's wrists. If anything, they seemed to be wrist-mounted shotguns of some kind.

Shaking off the shock of what was happening, Manrica wisely decided to leave the club. As he reached the exit, he stopped. _Wait a second…who was that guy in the white suit talking to Junior?_ he thought. He looked into the crowd, looking for a white suit and that funny hat that looked like a bowl, until he found his newest target. _There you are._ he thought. On taking a closer look at the man, Manrica's grin slowly grew. _He sure fits the description._ he thought as he slinked away from the crowd and stealthily tailed the one known as Roman Torchwick.

Roman casually walked away from the panicked crowd, with Manrica subtly following him. As Roman walked down the street, his instincts told him that someone was following him, but every thing he tried to see if he had a stalker was fruitless. He finally then stopped and suddenly turned around, looking in all the places that he would hide if _he_ were tailing someone. On seeing nothing but a quiet empty street, he frowned and turned around. _Must be getting paranoid._ he thought as he continued on his way.

When Torchwick turned down an alleyway, Manrica slowly crept from underneath a car. As he dusted himself off, he grinned. _Bet you never had someone hid under one of_ those _things eh?_ he confidently thought as he crept to the corner of the alley that Torchwick entered.

After seeing the keen eye that the criminal seemed to have, Manrica knew that just peeking around the corner would more than likely show Torchwick holding some sort of weapon toward him. After seeing that sword that Winter used, along with those…gauntlets that the blonde girl at the club had, he didn't feel up to seeing what a renowned criminal would use as a weapon.

After waiting for a good few seconds, Manrica saw that one of those vehicles parked along the road had a mirror on it. Shrugging, he pulled a knife that he 'borrowed' from a fellow clubber and was able to chip off a small part of it. It was a sloppy enough job that it would look more like wear and tear, or that something hit it. For good measure, he even hit the mirror with the handle of the knife to leave a small crack near where he chipped off the piece. He slowly walked back to the alley corner and carefully held the mirror out, using it to peer into the alley.

Despite the small size of the mirror chip, he was able to see Torchwick walking down the alley like it was normal for him. He was about to continue following the man, but someone else was approaching the criminal. He quickly pulled the mirror out, and crept to a dumpster that was just around the corner. _Am I close enough to hear what's going on?_ he thought.

"Torchwick…you're early" a voice said. On listening more closely, Manrica could hear a distinct clacking sound. _High heels? Well, that voice does sound like a woman's_ he thought.

"Yeah, some crazy blonde girl wrecked Junior's club, so I had to leave earlier than I planned. Don't worry, I still got the help we need for our next move."

"Good. Now, when your… _hired_ help arrives, you know what to do." the woman said.

"Of course…Why are we even bothering with the small Dust shops? Wouldn't it be easier to do what the White Fang did a few months ago and just rob a Schnee Dust shipment?" Torchwick asked.

"It's all according to the plan. The White Fang is going after the SDC for a reason. We're going to show the smaller businesses that even _they_ aren't safe," the woman said, her voice sounding more and more sadistic.

"You've always been the charming one." Torchwick droned.

Manrica could almost _hear_ the woman smirk. "You know what to do. Run along now."

Torchwick made a sound of annoyance at the woman's tone, and turned around before the woman spoke up again. "Oh, and before you go, do make sure you are not followed again."

Manrica's heart skipped a beat and he slowly crept out of the alley, making a dash for the nearest hiding spot on the street. Seeing another alleyway, he dove into it, just as he saw a flash of Torchwick's white coat.

"Alright, I know you're out there." Roman called out.

 _Bull. You had to be_ told _that I was following you._ Manrica wanted to say, but wisely decided against it.

Roman carefully examined the streets, once more looking in all possible hiding places. His eyes then settled on the alleyway Manrica took cover in and smirked. He held up the cane he was carrying, and Manrica peeked around the corner to see what was going on. His heart dropped when a small reticule popped up, showing that the cane could apparently fire something. He quickly stood up and sprinted to the other end of the alley as Roman fired his cane, a small firework-like projectile flying out to the alley. Manrica leapt forward as the explosive shot hit his original position and the force of the little explosive was enough to send him flying. He hit the ground and rolled for a bit before quickly getting to his feet and running for all he was worth. He left the alley and turned with Roman in pursuit.

"You know, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume you were passing by, but with how fast you're running away, you're clearly guilty of eavesdropping." Torchwick yelled.

Without missing a beat, Manrica turned around and held up one lone finger. "And only a fool would stay and fight a guy with a firework-cane." he yelled back, continuing to run.

Roman clenched his teeth and fired at Manrica again, only for the thief to whip around a car, letting the vehicle take the brunt of the shot.

"Come on man! I've run away from things much more dangerous than you!" Manrica taunted, flashing a cocky grin before ducking under another explosive shot.

"Try me." Torchwick muttered, running straight for the stormtrooper with speed that he was not expecting.

Manrica quickly held up an arm to block Torchwick's cane, but the force jarred his shoulder.

"Ow!" he yelled, ramming his knee into Roman's gut and using a sweeping kick to knock the man on his back. He quickly turned and ran off, knocking over a trash bin full of of various bottles and cans to hopefully slow down the criminal's pursuit. When Manrica reached the other end of yet another alleyway, his heart dropped into his stomach when he found that he had hit a dead end. "Blast…" he mumbled as he hunkered down behind a dumpster.

Torchwick stalked down the alley, smirking when he saw the dead end. "How typical. The spy gets caught because of a dead end." he cockily announced.

 _Not likely._ Manrica wanted to say, but kept quiet. He knew that Torchwick had him cornered, but all that was left was for Roman to find exactly which corner to look for.

As Torchwick approached Manrica's hiding place, he grabbed a small pebble and tossed it to the other side of the alley, shortly occupying the man's attention.

"Come out, come out whoever you are." Torchwick borderline sang.

Manrica grabbed a small can, wiped off what looked like beans from the inside and put the can to his lips "Don't shoot me, and maybe I will." he said, the can hiding most of he source of his voice and honestly sounding ridiculous in hindsight.

"You can't hide forever, you know." Torchwick called.

 _I'm pretty good at hiding_. Manrica thought, throwing another pebbled somewhere behind Torchwick.

"You really think I'm going to fall for that twice?" Roman droned, a small smile coming to his face when he saw a third pebble flying out from Manrica's hiding place. He raised his cane and fired another explosive shot, flushing the stormtrooper out from his hiding spot.

Manrica would've been nearly engulfed by the explosion had he not been quietly setting up a few meager boxes and rocks. He didn't know how it worked, but they apparently soaked up the fragments of concrete that flew at him. Before the dust settled, Manrica dashed through the dust toward Roman, baring his shoulder for a full-impact tackle.

Roman was not prepared for such a sudden move and was knocked over for the second time. He quickly stood up and began to swing his cane at Manrica, who did his best to either dodge or deflect the brunt of the attacks. He pulled out his knife, but it just wasn't long enough to be effective against Roman's much longer cane. Manrica's eyes locked onto a piece of pipe and he snatched it up from the ground. Now with _something_ better than a pocket knife to fight with, Manrica advanced on Torchwick, using the weight of the pipe to add to the power behind his blows.

Torchwick shook his head and said, "You know, you're probably one of the more unpredictable spies I've ever had the pleasure of tracking down. I'm sorry to say this, but you're going to die tonight."

"No thanks. I like living." Manrica said, he shoved away from Roman and reached into one of the dumpsters, pulling out…something. He didn't know what it was, but it was slimy and smelled terrible. He flung it at Torchwick, who tried to jump out of the way, but Manrica quickly advanced, forcing the criminal to get hit by the trash.

The orange-haired criminal growled and fired at Manrica, forcing him to retreat. He looked down at his ruined suit and said, "Ah, come on! This won't be coming out for weeks!"

Manrica put a hand over his mouth in mock shock. "Oh, did I do that?" he asked innocently. "I'm sorry."

"You're gonna pay for that, one way or the other!" Roman yelled, holding up his cane and firing once more, hitting Manrica almost head on. The stormtrooper was sent flying out of the alley with severe burn and some rather gruesome cuts.

Roman raised an eyebrow on seeing the state of Manrica. "You don't have your Aura unlocked? You must be crazier than I thought." he mumbled.

Manrica shakily got to his feet before the criminal reached him and glared at the man.

"Any last words?" Torchwick asked, raising his cane at the wounded stormtrooper.

Manrica looked at Torchwick in defiance before his eyes slowly widened before he grinned. "Yeah, I do. Behind you."

Roman grunted in surprise when he was sent flying past Manrica, rolling a good few feet before being stopped by a building on the other end of the street. Fortunately for him, his Aura was able to absorb most of the force behind…whatever hit him, but he's still going to feel that for a while.

"Roman Torchwick," a voice said. "You're under arrest." The voice was soon followed by a snap-hiss sound, a yellow glow surrounding the source of the voice.

 _Jonquil?! Uh-uh! I'm outta here!_ Torchwick thought on seeing the Jedi walking toward him. He fired his cane a few feet in front of him, causing a smoke screen, and sending debris flying toward Ral. He quickly ran off, firing behind him to keep his distance from Ral.

"I'm not going back to prison! Not so soon!" he yelled as he ran.

Ral shook his head. With how quickly the man was running, combined with how often he was firing his weapon behind him, the Jedi knew that Roman would likely hurt someone if he were to pursue. He deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. He quickly walked over to Manrica who was limping toward him.

"You've been following me!" Manrica yelled.

"Not exactly. I heard the sound of Torchwick's weapon and simply followed the small craters and found you."

"Well, why aren't you going after him?"

"Too much risk of collateral damage. It's late, but a lot of people are still on the streets. Besides, you're hurt. Bad." Ral explained.

At this, Manrica keeled over, grabbing at his stomach, coughing up some blood. He put a hand to his mouth to keep it from spilling onto the street, but there was more blood than he was expecting.

Ral quickly knelt over Manrica and wrapped one of his arms over his shoulder. "Come on, let's get you somewhere safer. You never know if any of Roman's goons are somewhere around."

Manrica would've answered, but he was in too much pain to really respond. He managed to make a grunting sound, but he quickly began another fit of pained coughing.

Ral led Manrica off of the street and gently set him down. He reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a Scroll. He tapped on the display a few times and then held it to his ear. "Yes, we have a medical emergency…Of course. We're on Swan Avenue, across from the _From Dust Till Dawn_ shop…Yeah. He's a burn victim that got hit in a fight with Roman Torchwick, I believe. No, he ran off I'm afraid. Yes…Thank you. That's all I ask." Ral said, putting the Scroll back in its pouch.

"Help's on the way, Manrica. Remember, if they ask for your name, it's Ro." Ral said, kneeling over the burned man.

"Agh…Thank you, Jedi." Manrica managed to say.

"Hold still. I'm not very good at Jedi healing, but I can at least dull the pain for you." Ral said, gently putting a hand over Manrica's chest. A small glow enveloped the Jedi's hand, and a low pulsing sound was heard. Manrica had no idea what Ral was doing, but he soon felt the pain going away. He was not feeling better, but at least he couldn't feel his pain anymore. Come to think of it, he couldn't feel much of anything.

A few minutes later, a whirring siren sound was quickly approaching the two, with the siren being accompanied by bright red and white lights flashing rapidly.

A large white and red vehicle was soon in sight, with Manrica somehow knowing that this was the medical help that Ral called. As the vehicle got closer, Manrica felt the bliss of unconsciousness taking him under.

The vehicle stopped close by and the back of it opened up, showing two men coming out of it, a stretcher being carried between them.

Ral stood up and backed away, letting the paramedics do their thing. After checking to make sure that it was safe to transport Manrica, the two lifted him up and put him on the stretcher, carrying him into the ambulance.

As the men brought Manrica into the ambulance, Ral spoke with a third man about what happened. Once their business was concluded, the paramedic thanked Ral for his time and for helping Manrica, aka, Ro.

As Ral walked away, he suddenly froze. _Hopefully, they'll be able to find medical records to see if they need to do anything special with that man. Wait a second…Oh, blast. They don't_ have _records!_

 **I guess that's a wrap. See ya'll later.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I have officially hit two mile stones in one chapter: the tenth chapter and this story has officially hit over 50,000 words. Enjoy! Thank you for the views, follows, favs, and reviews!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 10: Enemy Within**

"What do you mean, 'he wasn't in your room'?! You should've been keeping a closer eye on him!" Taddrei yelled at Soltrev and Renbra.

"How were we supposed to know that he'd just sneak out once we fell asleep? He was the first one in bed after we told him to!" Soltrev snapped.

"To be fair, he did say that sleep was for the weak a few minutes before he went to bed himself. I just figured it was irony, to be honest." Renbra said, trying not to shrink from the former Private. Taddrei may be the youngest in the squad, but he sure could yell.

"Well you should've done a better job at keeping him here!" Taddrei said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Brenver noticed the looks coming their way and said, "A hotel lobby is _not_ the place to be talking about this. Yes, Quinn and Onyx _could've_ been a little more cautious with Ro; but I think we all know that if he had his mind on it, he would've run off anyway."

Taddrei quietly sighed and said, "…You're right. I'm sorry guys, I-I shouldn't be getting so mad. If he really wanted to sneak out, he would've done it."

Katlin was silent the entire argument, but spoke up. "We should go find Jonquil. Perhaps he would know where Ro went."

"Viola's right. Ro isn't the only that hasn't shown up yet. Jonquil will probably be easier to find." Brenver said, his voice still freaking Taddrei out a bit now he knew the man was a clone trooper.

"Excuse me, but did you mention a Mister Ro?" a voice asked the group. They looked at the voice to see a Faunus.

"Yes. You've met him?" Taddrei asked.

"No, but I just heard that name on the news." The Faunus said, pointing to a TV screen before walking back over to his family. The Imperials looked at the TV to see a news report with those weird letters that were not Basic. Fortunately, a woman was speaking about the events the video was showing.

 _"Late last night, a man named Ro was found heavily burned and in critical condition. When paramedics arrived, they asked the man who found the burn victim and he reported that this was not an accident. Instead, this burn was the handiwork of Roman Torchwick, a renowned criminal that escaped imprisonment from an Atlas military base earlier today. It seems that Roman is adamant on continuing his criminal career. The victim, is in no condition to speak right now according to the hospital staff, but we will update as soon as more information is released. In other news, the White Fang has once again attempted an attack on the Schnee Dust Company. After the massive Dust shipment that was stolen a few months ago, the company has been set back; but the terrorist group does not seem content with just setting the Schnee Dust Company back a few weeks. Last night, the group set its sights on the heiress of the company, Weiss Schnee. Fortunately for Miss Schnee, Jonquil Saffron, a famed Hunter shrouded in mystery, was the one responsible for foiling the assassination attempt on the Schnee heiress."_

"Ro was attacked by Torchwick? And here I thought he just spent all night stealing stuff."

"He probably tried to steal from Torchwick and got in a fight over it." Katlin scoffed.

"I don't know. Maybe Ro was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had the impression that Roman was a bit of a classy gangster, but this…the man's nothing but deranged scum." Renbra whispered.

"We should see if Ro's okay." Taddrei said.

"Did you not hear the reporter? He's in critical condition, so he's probably in no position to be getting visitors right now. Besides, we don't even know if it's _our_ Ro." Soltrev replied.

"Jonquil saved him, so it must be. Besides, how many Ro's do you know that are night-owls?" Taddrei reasoned.

"…"

"Exactly. Now let's go see if we can at least make sure it's him."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Katlin said.

"Just because we don't like him, doesn't mean we should abandon him." Taddrei said, feeling disgusted that his squad would theoretically leave a comrade behind.

"The hospital has medical records. More than likely, they'll look through them to see if he has anything that could complicate surgery such as birth defects, allergies to certain treatments, and the like…Records that don't exist here."

"We don't know if they even do that."

"Look around you. This place is not as…held back as I think you all want to believe. A man that has no medical records, and a group of five others showing up with a similar story would look too suspicious. We don't want to be discovered so soon." Katlin whispered.

"She's got a point. We should look for Jonquil first, then see if he knows anything."

"That will not be necessary." a familiar voice said.

"Speak of the devil." Taddrei muttered.

"If you're wondering if this Ro is yours…yes it is him. I found him near the end of his fight with Torchwick and chased him off. If Ro wasn't so heavily burned, I would've gone after him, but he would've died had I left him." Ral stated.

The Imperials sighed in relief to know that it was Ral who found Manrica, but they were now fully worried about the dire state that the thief was in.

"Wait, what about his records?" Katlin asked.

"…We'll just have to hope that he can play it off." Ral admitted.

"What about Torchwick? Did you see where he went?" Taddrei asked.

For the first time since he showed up, Ral smile a genuine smile. "Better. I can track him."

"…How?"

"This isn't the place, but all you need to know is that I can follow him wherever he goes now." Ral said, closing his eyes for a few seconds. When his eyes opened, his smile grew bigger. "He's on the outskirts of Vale. A perfect place for a little…exercise."

Knowing exactly what Ral was referring to, Taddrei said, "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's get back to your home so we can gear up."

Speaking of the shuttle, Tray found himself in a precarious situation. Who knew that trying to be the mediator between a violent heavy trooper and a pissed off Zabrak would be difficult?

"Alright, that's enough! Both of you!" Tray yelled, stepping between Trio and Shejas.

"He started it!" Shejas protested, trying to reach around Tray to get to Trio, who was also attempting the same thing.

Tray seemed to almost flare in anger and pushed both of them away from each other. "Stand down! That's an order!" he bellowed.

Shejas and Trio scowled at each other, but made no moves.

"Now…Tell me what got you two so worked up."

"Well Private Jackass here decided that making fun of Zabraks to my face was a good idea." Shejas growled, baring his teeth at the heavy trooper.

"I was just saying that he was pretty unaggressive for his kind." Trio spat back. "And I was a Sergeant before we deserted, thank you very much." he added.

"Yeah, and then you went on to say that I must be weak, especially since my dad was a Mandalorian, yet I prefer to not fight." Shejas replied.

"Up yours!" Trio shouted. "Mandalorians _live_ for battle! Zabraks are an aggressive race, and you're the son of a Mandalorian so you clearly do not have what it takes to be a real warrior!"

"Says the guy lugging a heavy blaster and a staff around all day! This isn't the front-lines! You don't _need_ to carry that crap around all day, ya faker! It's like you're compensating for something!"

Tray listened to the two argue and then stopped them both. "Shut up! Both of you! If you can't handle this like adults, both of you are staying on opposite ends of the shuttle until you calm down enough to be civil."

"Pfft. Like that's gonna happen with a Zabrak."

"Shejas, Trio…Stop." Tray warned on seeing Shejas' jaw tense.

Shejas let out a low growl before slowly relaxing. "…You're right. Little faker's not worth it. He couldn't tell the difference between a real Mandalorian and a _fake_ like him." he said.

Before Trio could pitch another insult, Tray sent him a look. "Trio, you're staying in the medbay; Shejas, you're staying in the cockpit—just like last night." Trio snorted and started walking away until Tray added to his orders. " _Without_ your weapons."

Trio growled, but shouldered his heavy blaster and set it on the ground, his staff following it. Shejas sighed and pulled his modified blaster out of its hiding place and handed it over to Tray. Trio and Shejas glared at each other one last time before begrudgingly going to their assigned rooms.

Tray slumped down on the nearest chair and rested his face in his hands.

"Hey there," Tray looked up to see a woman holding out a cup of water. "You look like you could use some." Tray thanked her and accepted the cup, taking a small sip, feeling the cool liquid go down his throat.

"Those two are a piece of work, aren't they?" the engineer asked, sitting next to Tray.

"No kidding. I'm starting to regret letting Trio stay here. First arguing over pazaak, now racism…I should've sent him with the others."

The woman lightly laughed and said, "That man lives to fight. He would more than likely cause a problem if he went with the others."

Tray nodded wordlessly, taking another sip of the water.

"Oh. Uh, I'm Elize by the way. I'm the head of the engineers here. I never really found a good time to speak with you, but I figured now's as good a time as any to introduce myself to you, Lieutenant." the woman said.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Elize. And please, just call me Tray. We aren't in the military anymore."

Elize smiled and stood up. "I just thought that since you're going to be stuck here for a while, you may as well know someone other than Trio and Shejas."

"True enough. Why don't you tell me about yourself?" Tray suggested.

Elize shrugged. "There's not much to say. I was born on Corulag and when I was old enough, I started taking engineering classes. When I graduated at the top of my class, the Empire offered me a decently high-up job in its engineering divisions. Who was I to refuse?"

"Someone with no choice." Tray quipped.

"Heh…Too right. Not many people say 'no' to the Empire and live." Elize said sadly.

"Except the Rebels." Tray pointed out.

Elize stiffened a bit. "…I'm only going to say this once. All the lives lost in the war, and it's finally come to an end. I'm just glad it's over. I just hope the Alliance will not make the same mistakes as the old Republic, or just become another Empire."

After a few moments of silence, Elize shifted her weight to her other leg and said, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Lieutenant. Do let me know if your squad comes back with any…interesting weapons. Anyway, I gotta see how the other engineers are doing. Talk to ya later."

Tray lifted his head to say something, but the head engineer was already gone. "Yeah…"

Manrica was not sure where he was, but on being nearly blinded by a bright light right above him, he started to make assumptions. He squeezed his eyes shut to block out the obnoxiously bright light, and focused on his surroundings.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

 _Okay, abduction is out of the way…_ he thought.

"Doctor, he's coming to." a voice announced in relief.

 _Doctor? Definitely a medbay._ Manrica thought. The light dimmed, and he could finally start looking around. Well, he would have if he could, but something seemed to be keeping his head from turning. Unable to turn his head, he decided to try sitting up, but the doctor quickly moved toward him

"Ah, you don't want to do that." the man that Manrica assumed to be the doctor said, gently pushing him back down.

With the doctor finally in sight, Manrica saw a middle-aged man wearing hospital scrubs. On a closer look, they were definitely not like those on the _Equinox_.

Manrica opened his mouth to speak, but he suddenly became very aware of how dry his throat was.

"Get him something to drink." the doctor ordered.

Manrica soon found a cup being put to his lips and slowly tipped, pouring down pure water. It wasn't the coldest thing he had ever had, but it sure helped with his parched throat.

"Thank you." Manrica said with a scratchy voice.

"You're very lucky to be alive, Mister Ro. Had you not been found when you did, you likely wouldn't have made it." the doctor said.

Manrica let the nurse give him another sip of the water and said, "Well, I'm glad it didn't come to that."

"As are we. Life is a precious thing." the doctor replied.

 _Too right._ Manrica thought. He tried to crane his neck to look down at himself, but he kept getting the feeling of something keeping him from doing so.

"You were heavily injured in that fight. You also received some nasty burns. We were able to remove most of the burned tissue, but you will have to stay here until the new skin tissue can grow back. If we didn't give it a chance to grow back, your skin will be extremely sensitive, and you probably don't want to deal with that."

"Uh…How long will that take?" Manrica asked.

"We're not sure. We tried to look up your medical records to see if there were any issues we needed to be aware of but…well…it's as if you don't exist."

Were it not for his years of experience of lying his way out of trouble, Manrica's eyebrows would've shot to the ceiling.

"I was born outside of the kingdoms. Normally, I wouldn't even be here in Vale, but something came up so a group of us were sent here." Manrica said, following the story that he and Taddrei came up with.

"Born outside of the kingdoms or not, there would still be something indicating you exist, yet there is nothing in any sort of database regarding you. No birth certificates, no medial records, no Scroll data usage…nothing."

"I don't have a Scroll, and my parents didn't exactly have the luxury of recording my birth." Manrica stated.

The doctor paused for a bit, with Manrica slowly growing tenser and tenser. Had anyone been paying attention to the heart monitor, they would've seen that his heart was beating a little bit faster.

"Fair enough, I suppose. Your family lives outside of the kingdoms, so it would make sense that survival is more important than something like records." the doctor finally said, with Manrica slowly relaxing to hide his relief.

"Tell me, is there anyone that can verify your story? A friend perhaps?" the doctor asked. "We can't be too careful, you know."

"Doctor, we shouldn't interrogate the patient. He's been severely burned, so he needs to give himself some rest. Now, I believe that Doctor Luxana asked for you to meet with her." one of the nurses said.

The doctor nodded and looked at Manrica. "I apologize. It's just…odd to find absolutely no records about someone, so my curiosity got the better of me."

The doctor and some of the nurses left the room with the exception of the one that gave Manrica the water. The woman smiled at Manrica and picked up a small device, putting it close to Manrica's relatively unburned arm. "If you need anything, just press that button and I'll be here shortly." she said, walking out of the room.

 _Aw yeah baby! You struck gold, good buddy!_ Manrica thought as he ever so closely looked down as the woman walk out of the room. He was tempted to just keep pushing the button so he could get on her nerves, but his rare common sense prevailed. _Eh, she's probably got more than just me to attend to. But dang, that girl walks better than Katlin does; and_ that's _sayin' something!_ he thought as his finger hovered over the button until he finally just set his arm down and tried to get some rest.

As the rest of the squad followed Ral to his ship, the Jedi stopped, looking almost as if he was deep in thought.

"Is something wrong?" Taddrei asked.

"…How is that possible?" Ral muttered.

"Uh, excuse me?"

"Torchwick is…moving. Very fast." Ral said, starting to walk once again.

"Okay, how are you doing that? What, do you _sense_ him or something like that?" Taddrei asked.

"For lack of a better word, yes."

Taddrei threw his arms into the air and said, "Is there nothing the Force _can't_ do? Because every time you mention the Force, it feels like there's another thing you can do with it. I thought you said the Force was weak here."

"The Force _is_ weakened here, but I've been living here for almost ten years, remember? I've adapted to the subdued Force energy here. To put into terms you would understand…less is more."

Taddrei raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "I think I get it. It's weaker here, but you can somehow do more with lessened power?"

"More or less, yes."

"So what would happen if you were on a planet where the Force is strong?" Katlin asked.

Ral thought over the medic's question and finally said, "I shudder to think of it. I might be able to completely overpower the most powerful opponents, or I might lose control of myself. I don't really know." Satisfied, the medic nodded.

"Back to Torchwick. Should we go after him?" Taddrei asked.

"Yes and no. We…may need to have the shuttle covertly arrive outside of Vale, and have them drop off your equipment. We have no idea what Roman's plans are, so speed will be of the utmost importance." Ral answered.

"In case you haven't noticed, a Lambda isn't exactly suited for stealth."

"Which is why I know the perfect place for your ship to land." Ral said. "Tell me, do you have a way to contact your leader?"

"Well…Tray handed me this comm in case we need orders." Taddrei stated.

"Board my ship and contact Tray from there. You'll be less likely to be heard, and you can be more forward in asking for assistance." Ral said, pulling out his Scroll and tapping on the display, lowering the boarding ramp.

Taddrei quickly entered Ral's ship and pulled out his comm, holding it up to his face. "Tray. Tray, this is Taddrei. Do you read?"

" _I hear you, Taddrei. What happened?"_

"First off, Manrica's in the hospital."

" _What?!"_

"Hold on, sir. Let me finish. Manrica's in the hospital because he got into a fight with Roman Torchwick. The Jedi managed to save Manrica in time, but Roman got away. Apparently, Ral can now track Roman through the Force, and he knows exactly where the scumbag is."

" _And…?"_

"…We're going to try to take him in."

" _How are you going to do that?"_

Taddrei swallowed and said, "We're going to need our gear for what Ral has in mind, sir."

" _Alright. Just come back to the shuttle, and your gear will be ready. Hopefully, we can find something that can help Manrica heal faster while we're at it."_

"That's a negative sir. It would be too suspicious if a few people with a similar lack of any records showed up, claiming that they know him. I don't know about rules regarding possible criminals here on Remnant, but I get the feeling that they will take care of anyone with injuries like Manrica's."

"… _Alright then. Come back to Ral's home and we'll make sure you gear is ready to go."_

"Ral has a better idea. He knows a good place outside of Vale for the shuttle to go to. I don't know about you, sir, but I think that having the shuttle dropping off our equipment would be much quicker than having us get in Ral's ship, fly to his home, get our gear, and fly back in Ral's ship." Taddrei stated.

" _What does Ral have in mind?"_ Tray asked.

"I don't know, sir. He just said that he has a good spot for a covert drop-off."

" _Very well. Have Ral give us the coordinates, and we'll be right over."_

"Yes, sir. Taddrei out." the young stormtrooper said, cutting off the link and putting his comm unit back in his pockets. He stepped out of Ral's ship and saw the girl that ran into him yesterday chatting up a storm with Ral.

"Mister Saffron, it is _such_ an honor to meet you!" the girl said, her every movement screaming out 'fan.'

"I'm nothing special." Ral stated.

"Not everyone gets to save both of the Schnee sisters! That whole thing with that hostage crisis was sooooo _cool_! Well…not the whole 'people being taken hostage' part, but the part where you just showed up out of nowhere and kicked butt was totally awesome!" the girl squealed in what sounded like one breath.

 _Does that girl even breath?_ Taddrei thought on hearing the girl continue to ramble about Ral's achievements on Remnant until she became aware of Taddrei's presence.

"I-It's you!" the girl exclaimed. "I am still very sorry about running into you yesterday!" she added.

Taddrei suppressed a smile and said, "It's no problem. No harm came of it."

The girl nervously rubbed the back of her neck before holding out her hand. "Uh…I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose."

Taddrei slightly cocked an eyebrow at the sudden change in the girl's attitude. First, she was extremely excited, then became bashful, then turned into someone who's just nervous. Deciding to go along with it, Taddrei took the girl's hand and shook it. "I'm Koa. Nice to meet you, Ruby."

"Yo, Rubes. What'd Dad say about talking to strangers?" a voice asked with concern. Taddrei looked to see the same blonde girl that was with Ruby.

Ruby slightly sighed and said, "'Don't talk to them, because you never know what their intentions are. I know, Yang."

Yang walked up to the group and said, "I'm sorry if my sister bothered you guys." She looked at Ral and her eyes glowed with recognition. "Wait a minute…You're Jonquil Saffron, aren't you?"

"I am." Ral said, tipping his head toward the girl.

"Neat. I guess I can understand why Ruby here got so excited and ran off. Come on, sis, let's go turn in my application to Beacon."

"Okay." Ruby said. The two turned to leave, but Ruby looked back to wave at Jonquil. "It was nice meeting you, Mister Saffron!"

"And I, you." Ral calmly replied.

As the two walked off, Yang nudged Ruby with her elbow. "So…What'd you think of that boy?" she asked teasingly.

"Ew, Yang! That boy's more around your age!" Ruby protested.

"Nah. He's too military-looking for my tastes. Might be from Atlas too, and I'm not going to go for a guy who's probably going to be somewhere else all the time."

"Those two were sisters? They don't look anything alike." Taddrei commented. "…Where's everybody else?"

"They're over at that café. You have not eaten yet, and it seems that you still need money, so I'm paying for your breakfast."

Taddrei looked at Ral in surprise. "I…Thank you."

"Once you're on your feet financially, I will be expecting my money back." Ral stated.

"We'd probably pay you for your help anyway." Taddrei replied. He walked over to the rest of his group and sat down with them. While parts of the names and the colors of the food may be different from the galaxy at large, the taste was relatively the same. Really, the biggest difference was a change from blue milk to white milk. Once the group finished eating, they left the café and found Ral walking toward them.

"Alright. Where's this secret place of yours?" Taddrei asked.

"Give me your comm and I can give your Lieutenant the coordinates." Ral answered, holding out his hand.

Taddrei hesitated, but carefully pulled out his comm and handed it to Ral. The Jedi stepped back from the group and put it to his lips. "Lieutenant, this is Ral."

A few seconds later, a confused sounding Tray responded. _"What is it?"_

"I have the coordinates for the place for your shuttle to land." Ral stated.

" _Alright. Let's hear them."_

Ral gave Tray the coordinates and Tray said, _"Affirmative. I'll relay them to Shejas and we'll be there shortly. Over."_

Ral cut the link and handed the comm back to Taddrei. "What do we do until the shuttle gets here, Jedi?"

"I will show you where the drop-off will be, and after that, I will go make sure that Manrica is doing fine."

"Why not us? We should go check on him too." Katlin asked.

"No. Risk of your discovery will be too great. I'm rather well-known, _and_ I'm the one that called the hospital about him. It will make more sense that I show up instead."

"He'll at least want to hear from us." Taddrei pointed out.

"I will find a way for you to speak with him." Ral stated.

"If you say so."

"Come. Let me show you where the shuttle will land."

Three hours later, the ex-Imperials found themselves a little way out from Vale, yet they did not run into any Grimm. When Katlin pointed this out, Ral said, "This area recently had a bit of a purge from Huntsmen. The people don't know how the Grimm keep coming back, but they do. If you _do_ see any Grimm here, they'll likely be very young and weak. Little more than an average animal here on Remnant."

"Average? Here? Nah." Brenver quipped.

"In any case, I will go make sure that Manrica is okay in the hospital." Ral said, starting to walk away.

"Hey wait! You're not leaving us here, are you?" Taddrei called out.

"Maybe I am. Maybe I am not. If you really want to stay here, you can. I won't stop you." Ral yelled back as he seemed to disappear into the forest.

"Uh…Anyone know the way back?" Taddrei asked.

"Sorry man. A forest is a bit out of my element. All the trees look the same to me." Renbra admitted.

As the other Imperials began to say that they don't know in different ways, Soltrev spoke up.

"I could probably take us back."

"Do you think or do you _know_?" Katlin asked.

"Somewhere in between."

"Alright, Soltrev. Lead the way." Taddrei said.

"Hold on." Soltrev said, seemingly looking for something.

"Uh…Soltrev?"

"Hold on."

"…Any day now."

"I said. Hold. On." the stormtrooper growled in annoyance. He walked up to a tree and seemed to look for something. "Hello," he said victoriously. "It's this way."

Soltrev started walking, with the Imperials following him. He would occasionally stop and look around, but would soon start walking again.

"Soltrev…be honest. Are we lost?" Brenver asked.

"No. We're heading the way we came."

"Do you know for sure?"

"Yes."

Brenver frowned and said, "How are you doing it? I highly doubt you remember certain trees as landmarks."

"It's not the trees I'm following. It's my mark."

Taddrei perked up, but looked confused. "Your…mark?"

Soltrev flippantly pulled out a small vibroknife, flipped it around in his fingers, and sheathed it. "I put special marks along the trees as we went."

"I get what you're doing, but how do we know you haven't been mistaking other marks on the trees for yours?" Katlin asked.

"I made this knife myself with a few modifications." Soltrev said, putting his hand along one of the trees. "See this burn mark? That's the knife's work."

"You have a burning vibroknife? Weren't those kind of mods illegal?" Taddrei asked.

"Maybe where you come from, but where I lived, survival took priority over the law getting worked up over illegal weapons modifications." Soltrev said.

"Where did you live? Even Kessel enforced rules like that."

Soltrev stopped and looked away, growing tense. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Suit yourself."

Soltrev continued to lead the Imperials out of the forest in silence, with the rest wondering a few things. "Was Manrica okay? Why did Ral leave us behind like that? What's with Soltrev?"

As Ral came into the outskirts of Vale, he sensed a disturbance. He slightly looked to his left to see a few men sparing suspicious looks at him. Using the Force, Ral could tell that their intentions were definitely not friendly ones. Preparing for a fight, Ral kept walking, ready for anything. One of the men waved him over and said, "Hey! Hey you!"

The man got in front of Ral, who acted like he was surprised by the man's actions. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, stop walking. This is Torchwick's territory, old man."

"So arrogant." Ral mumbled.

"Excuse me? I don't think I heard you right. You mind repeating yourself, old man?"

"So much anger."

"Well who wouldn't be mad at having to deal with an old coot like you?!" the man angrily yelled.

Ral shook his head and walked around the criminal. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stop walking!" the man warned, pressing a gun into Ral's back.

"So… _weak._ " Ral said as he spun around and wrenched the gun out of the man's hand, quickly ejecting the magazine and racking the pistol to eject the bullet in the chamber. With the man disarmed, Ral quickly changed his grip on the pistol and bashed the back of the man's head with the grip, knocking him out.

"Anyone else?" Ral taunted the group of men that slowly began to surround him. "So rude, attacking your elders, you know."

"Shut it old man! Torchwick wants your head for putting him in the clink!" one of the men roared as he charged the Jedi, only for Ral to flip the man onto his back and stomp on his head.

"Does he? I'm honored that he thinks so highly of me. Tell him I send my regards." Ral replied.

"Get 'im!" one of Torchwick's men shouted, with the entire group rushing at Ral.

"If the White Fang can't take me down that way, what hope do you have?" Ral muttered. He reached out to the Force and unleashed the pent-up power just before the first criminal could touch him, sending the entire entourage flying in different directions.

"What the?!"

"Get back up, you idiots! Shoot him!"

Ral's Jedi senses warned him of a volley of gun fire and quickly set up a Force shield, suspending all of the bullets in midair.

"It's gotta be his Semblance! Be careful!" one of the men yelled.

Ral smirked and thought, _It is so much more. You wouldn't understand._

Another man with a rather antiquated, yet classic, gangster weapon raised it and aimed at Ral, firing a spray of bullets. Due to Ral's shield, the bullets all stopped inches away from him.

"Stop firing, you buffoon!"

 _Too late._ Ral thought when he collapsed his shield and sent all of the bullets flying back at various angles that either hit or grazed all of Torchwick's minions. The ones that did not have an Aura fell to the ground in pain, more than a few bullets having firmly lodged themselves in them, while the ones that were lucky enough to have their Aura unlocked shrugged off the tiny pieces of lead.

All of the remaining gangsters raised their weapons and aimed at Ral.

 _Blast. That's going to hurt._ Ral thought, as he quickly reached for his belt, only to find it wasn't there. Shocked, he instantly leaped into the air before the criminals fired. He landed on a rooftop and rolled to absorb the impact and took off.

"Where'd he go?!"

"Find him! He can't have gone far!"

Ral kept running until he no longer heard the crazed criminals. Even when he was certain that they were gone, he kept running until he reached the CCTS. Back in action or not, Torchwick's gang did not have the men or the guns to attack someone in such a public place. Taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Ral looked around him for any signs of Torchwick's gang. After seeing no one, he reached out to the Force to sense malicious intentions. Sensing nothing, he finally relaxed.

"Mister Saffron, are you alright?" a voice asked.

Ral took a second before answering. "Yes…I'm fine, Ozpin. Now leave me alone."

"You're not breathing too well. Finally meet your match?" Ozpin joked.

"Pfft. As if. I got caught without my weapon against some of Torchwick's cronies. That's all."

"As long as you are alright."

"I'm fine, Ozpin. Quit asking. I'm still younger than you, you know." Ral joked back.

Ozpin lightly smiled and took a small sip of coffee from his nearly infamous mug. "Indeed. Your old age will come, Mister Saffron."

"We're not around _them_ , Ozpin. I decided to take a little break from them for a bit and check on their injured comrade."

Ozpin nodded and said, "Very well, Ral…How are they doing?"

"Well…They're doing fine. Except for one of their own getting heavily wounded by Torchwick, they're doing fine. If I didn't know any better, I'd probably think they were normal people."

"I see. Well, you should probably get back to it." Ozpin said, taking yet another sip from his mug.

Ral cocked an eyebrow as his head slightly tilted up. "You might want to get a refill soon from the looks of it."

"No need." Ozpin said as Ral walked away.

Manrica woke up with a crick in his neck. He tried to sit up, but his casts reminded him that he couldn't move very much. He pressed the button that the nurse gave him and waited. A few minutes later the nurse walked in.

"Hey, uh, I'm sure you have more important things to do, but my neck's killing me. Is there anything you can do about that?" Manrica asked.

The nurse silently stared at Manrica until she smiled and left the room, coming back in with a small pillow. The nurse gently lifted up the stormtrooper's head and pushed his old pillow a little bit down his back, while putting the new pillow where the old one once rested. Feeling the change in his posture, Manrica smiled and said, "Thanks, nurse."

"No problem. Just let me know if you need anything."

Manrica found himself passing the time by trying to make a kind of beat out of the clock, but with only one hand to work with, his options were more limited than he was expecting. _I guess I should be glad that I can finally move my head around now._ he thought as his head fell back onto his pillow and he stared at the ceiling for who knows how long.

After a good amount of time passed, Manrica looked at the clock in confusion. _Hm…The nurse usually checks on me every fifteen to thirty minutes…She's probably busy._ he thought just as the door opened.

The nurse walked in with all the glory that Manrica's mind could muster. He could've sworn that he even saw rays of sunshine come into the room as well.

"Well, there's my light in the darkness." he joked.

"…" The nurse lightly smiled but didn't say anything, seemingly working on something in the room.

"Uh…Hello?"

"…"

"Say something please?" Manrica asked. "You've got a very pretty voice, has anyone ever told you that?"

"…"

 _Something's not right with her…_ Manrica thought. "Was it the 'light in the darkness' thing? It was totally that, wasn't it?"

"…"

 _Say something dammit! You're freaking me out!"_ Manrica thought.

Before Manrica could ask the nurse what was wrong, the nurse pulled out an umbrella from seemingly out of no where.

"Uh…Nurse? There's kind of a roof over our head. I know that umbrellas can be romantic, but it's usually the guy that offers it to the lady."

"…" The nurse winked, and pulled on the handle of the umbrella, revealing an all too sharp metal point.

Manrica nervously swallowed and said, "Uh…I'm not into that stuff. Besides, I'm too young for a colonoscopy."

The nurse faltered a bit, surprised at the rather brash insinuation, but scowled at the stormtrooper. Her glare turned into a wicked smile as she pulled the handle out and revealed a sharp, pointed sword. Her wicked smile grew as her uniform disappeared, being replaced by a very short woman with multicolored hair and eyes—one brown eye, one pink eye. The wicked smile went up to her eyes as she was seemingly consumed by bloodlust until the door opened, and the umbrella instantly disappeared.

The would-be assassin turned around and smiled sweetly at whoever came in, but her eyes widened on seeing who walked in.

"Get away from him!" Ral yelled, charging at the assassin.

The woman's umbrella reappeared and she held it out in front of her. Ral got under her guard and rammed his shoulder into the woman.

The woman said nothing as she avoided Ral's attacks with surprising grace in such a small room. Ral unleashed a flurry of punches, kicks, and charges at the woman, but she easily dodged all of them. Seeing an opening, the woman jammed her umbrella into Ral's gut, keeling him over before swinging her weapon down on the back of his head.

Ral was knocked down, but he was barely holding onto his consciousness.

"Ral! Here!" Manrica yelled, holding out the Jedi's missing lightsaber.

Not even bothering to ask how the man got it, Ral was brought back to full alert and shoved the woman off of him, reaching out to the Force to bring his lightsaber to him.

The lightsaber flew out of Manrica's good hand and into Ral's much more capable hands. The Jedi's weapon light up, casting a yellow glow on the room. The woman's eyes flashed white and she instantly backed away from the deadly weapon, seemingly disappearing in a flash of light.

Ral stood his ground, waiting for the assassin to try anything. Not seeing or hearing anything out of the ordinary, Ral cautiously searched for the woman through the Force. Not sensing the blind rage and fear of the woman, Ral relaxed and retracted his lightsaber as some of the hospital staff hastily entered the room.

"What happened in here?"

"This man was nearly killed by an assassin."

"What?! That's preposterous!" one of the staff said in shock.

"It's true, doctors. I was attacked." Manrica announced.

"How? No one has left the room."

"The woman seemed to turn herself invisible. Perhaps she can teleport. I do not know. Just know that she is gone now."

"How are you so sure?"

"Is the word of a Huntsman not good enough for you?" Ral asked.

"Huntsman? Oh! You're the man that saved the Schnee heiress last night!"

"This man is fine, but I think he needs to be put under armed guard." Ral said.

"Are you sure that's wise? Such a thing is uncommon in Vale. What would happen if the media got a hold of this 'special treatment'?" the doctor asked.

"They won't find out. I know a safe place where he'll be in good hands." Ral answered.

"…Very well. Tell me, what's the name of this hospital?" the doctor said.

"It's not a hospital per se, but they do have medical facilities. All he needs to do is rest, no?"

"Er…Well, with such heavy burns, we'll have to make sure that the skin tissue grows back correctly, especially with the likelihood of some of the damage burning into his muscles. There's also the dislocated shoulder to take into account. Seeing that his burned arm is the dislocated one, we should let the skin grow back to the point that it won't hurt him when we set his shoulder."

"The place I have in mind has more than adequate medical care. I dare say he'll be in better hands there than he will be in here; especially considering your…security breach." Ral casually said.

"What is this place you speak of?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, but they will be able to take good care of him." Ral said, slightly annoyed at the doctor's curiosity.

"Unless I have a name, I'm afraid I cannot clear the patient." the doctor stated as the rest of the staff left the room.

Ral sighed and slowly waved his hand. "You will clear the patient for transfer."

"…I will clear the patient for transfer."

Manrica looked between Ral and the doctor in confusion. _Wha…How…Wha…?_ he thought.

The doctor looked over a clipboard and signed his name at the bottom. "He is cleared for a transfer."

"Thank you very much." Ral said.

A few minutes later, some of the hospital staff came into the room and prepared to move Manrica. One of the staff looked at Ral and asked, "Where are you taking him?"

"First off, he's going to my ship, so I can take him where he needs to go. The rest is none of your business." Ral answered.

"Where's your ship?"

"It's at landing strip 42C. It should be the only ship there, but if there's another one, look for the _Ascendant Light_."

The man nodded and typed the ship's name into his Scroll. "That's all we need, sir. Your friend will be taken to your ship within the hour."

"Thank you."

 **I suppose that's a wrap. See you guys next week!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright, new chapter. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Thank you for the views, follows, favorites, and reviews!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 11: Forces Unknown**

 _Atlas: Military Base 'Omega'_

To say that Winter was not having a good time would be an understatement. First, an unknown military group causes a prison break that freed Torchwick, said-military group all but disappears, and now the White Fang tried to kill her younger sister. All in one day, too! But that was yesterday, today is a new one, so she hoped that it would be better, but no—there just had to be a ton of paperwork! She sat at a desk, her head resting on it. She looked up when she heard the door open and quickly straightened up. She stood from her chair and offered a crisp salute when it clicked in her head as to who walked into her office. "General."

"At ease, Specialist."

Winter sat back down and subtly wiped a small speck of drool off her desk. "Is there something you need, sir?" she asked.

General Ironwood nodded and said, "I was just wondering if you had that report ready."

"Which one?"

Ironwood offered a sympathetic smile and said, "The one I'm asking for is about these…newcomers."

"Ah. That one." Winter said, pulling open a drawer and pulling out a file. "Here it is, Sir."

Ironwood took the file and nodded at Winter. "That is all, Specialist." he said, walking out of the office.

Winter sighed and continued to straighten up her desk. She looked at the clock on her computer and her eyes slightly widened on seeing the time. That quick nap was supposed to be just ten minutes—not forty-five! No wonder it felt like Ironwood showed up ahead of time! She shook off her sleepiness and continued her work. She still had to fully assemble the task-force to find these…Bucketheads, as some of the soldiers at the base took to calling the strange soldiers. Surely, once there is more information on them, a better name will be given to them. For now though, everyone involved in the incident was referring to them as the Bucketheads.

She looked up from her work when she heard her door open once more. _It seems people have forgotten how to knock these days,_ she thought when she looked up at the person that forgot to knock.

A man, presumably a scientist judging from his uniform, walked up to Winter and offered a salute. It wasn't as crisp as it could be, but this man was clearly a scientist; not a soldier. "Can I…help you?" Winter asked, unsure what the man had to say.

"Uh, yes. You are Miss Schnee correct?" the man asked.

"I am."

"Excellent!" The man said excitedly. "I am Doctor Ceru. The Science Corps has found something that may be of interest to you, considering your current mission."

Winter weaved her fingers together and said, "The SC found something about the Bucketheads?"

"…If that's what you call those strange soldiers that inadvertently freed Torchwick, then yes." Ceru offered.

"Very well. What is it?" Winter asked.

"It would probably be better to show you." Ceru replied. He opened the door to Winter's office and gestured to Winter to follow.

Winter stood up and nodded. "Lead the way." She said. Ceru led her through the base until they reached the research labs. Ceru walked up to one of the two guards and held up an identification card.

The guard looked at the card and waved a small device over it. He looked at Ceru and said, "You're clear."

Ceru nodded and walked into the labs, with Winter going through the same process. When the guard scanned her ID, his eyes slightly widened and he offered a salute. "Specialist." he said.

"As you were, soldier. I'm just checking on whatever the SC has to show me." Winter stated.

The man's pose relaxed and Winter walked into the labs. No matter how many times she entered these rooms, it always found some way to amaze her. Almost every Atlas base had a research center of some kind, but the Omega base had one of the largest, and most advanced. Only the most cutting-edge of technology lay in these rooms, both completed and in-progress designs.

Looking back at Ceru, she said, "Where is this…thing you found?"

"To clarify, it wasn't _us_ who found your item of interest. You know that warehouse that you fought the…Bucketheads in?"

"Yes. The munitions storage."

"Early this morning, one of the guards reported finding some canisters of a strange liquid that he had never seen before. He turned the canisters over to us for study. At first, we were quite alarmed when we did not recognize any of the chemical compounds. At first, we assumed it was a chemical or bioweapon of some sort." Ceru stated.

"Those kinds of weapons are illegal!" Winter exclaimed.

"…Which is why when we found out about this possibility, we locked down the labs until it could be transferred to a biohazard lab room, and quarantined everyone that may have come into contact with the liquid."

"Why haven't I been quarantined?" Winter asked curiously.

"That's a good question…How did we miss you…?" Ceru muttered. "Doesn't matter. We found that there are no harmful effects, so you'd have been cleared hours ago anyway."

"And if there _were_ harmful effects?" Winter questioned, looking at a small group of scientists that were huddled around a relatively small table. Ignoring her previous question with an annoyed grunt, she walked over to the table, looking at Doctor Ceru. "Is that it?" she asked when she saw a glimpse of a bright-blue liquid in a small glass jar.

"Yes. That is it."

"It looks like just water to me." Winter droned. "Maybe with glowing stuff in it, but it looks like water."

"That was one possible thought that we had, but it's clearly not water. There is no H2O in it."

"No H2O? But…it looks just like water" Winter pointed out again.

"We know that. We did all kinds of scans, and like I said, almost none of the elements in this liquid are known to us." Ceru replied.

"…You said that the warehouse guards found canisters, but I only see one. Where are the others?" Winter asked.

"Locked up, of course. Since the liquid seems to be the same in each canister, we decided to study just one of them." Ceru answered.

One of the scientists took note of the two and waved them over. "Doctor Ceru, thank you for bringing Miss Schnee here."

"No problem, Doctor Aurora." Ceru replied, only to get a look from Aurora.

"You know I don't like it when people reply 'no problem,' Doctor Ceru…of course it's not a problem. Anyway, Miss Schnee, you are probably wondering why we brought you in while we still know little about this stuff."

"Because it has to do with the Bucketheads, I assume." Winter stated.

"Yes. We believe that these canisters were dropped by the smallest of their group."

"Yes." Winter replied. "We believe that the small one is Katlin, possibly a woman, judging by her size and the way she walked." she added.

"Hmm. A military with women in it. How shocking." Ceru said sarcastically, looking at Winter pointedly.

Aurora glanced at Ceru before looking back to Winter. "More in-depth studies are necessary and we thought you might like to be present since anything that has to do with the Bucketheads is significant to your mission. Your decision though."

Winter slowly nodded and said, "Agreed. Proceed. I'll stay out of your way." She backed away from the table and found a good place to observe.

"Okay. Let's open this up and see what this stuff is made of." Aurora said, handing the canister to Ceru.

Doctor Ceru tried pulling at the lid, but there was no hint of the lid budging. "Hmm…Maybe it's a twist-off lid." he mumbled, adjusting his grip to try twisting the lid off.

"Come on, you stubborn little—!" he said as he twisted at the lid until it suddenly gave, spilling a few drops of the liquid onto the table.

"Be careful, Doctor! We only have so much of this liquid." Aurora warned.

"My mistake, Doctor." Ceru replied. He looked at the table for a few seconds, wondering if the liquid did anything. "…At least we know it isn't acidic." he finally stated.

"It's strange. It looks like water, but it almost sticks to the table." Ceru said, dabbing his pointer finger onto the drops of liquid. "Hmm…Even through the glove, it feels very cold."

"Then let's be careful not to get it on our bare skin." Aurora noted, writing down the man's observations.

Ceru nodded and held the canister over a small opening in what looked like a really big, highly advanced microscope, slowly tipping it over for a small stream of the blue liquid to pour into it. He tipped the canister back up, cutting off the stream.

He put the canister back on the table and watched a monitor that was attached the machine. His eyes widened on seeing the liquid on a microscopic scale. "Incredible." he breathed after a few minutes.

"What?" Winter asked, walking toward the monitor.

"You know what O-positive blood is, correct?" Ceru asked, with Winter nodding.

"Well, this liquid bears quite a remarkable resemblance to it. It also seems to be similar to ocean water." Ceru said.

"So…What; we have an alien body fluid now?" Winter amusingly questioned.

"Oh, please. We're scientists; not kids. It's not blood by any means, nor is it water. It's just an oddly similar mix. There are differences that make it rather obvious that it's neither." Aurora said in annoyance.

"Exactly. This liquid must have some other purpose. It's not quite blood, or any bodily fluid that we recognize; and it's too active on a molecular scale to be just water." Ceru added.

"Can you tell what it does?" Winter asked.

Aurora shrugged and said, "We're not really sure, but knowing what to compare this liquid to, we now have a lead toward figuring out its purpose."

Winter nodded and said, "I assume there's nothing else to discuss?"

"Yes, Miss Schnee. If you wish, you may get back to it. Thank you for you time. I do hope that this has been an…enlightening experience for you." 

"It has, thank you. Please keep me informed." Winter said, as she departed the labs and the scientists eagerly returned their attention to the strange liquid.

 _Now we know that there's more to those soldiers than we originally thought. Should they show dangerous intentions, we'll have to work even harder toward bringing them in._ Winter thought. As she left the lab, she felt her Scroll vibrate. Once she was cleared by the guards, she pulled out her Scroll and looked at the message. It was from her sister.

 _I spoke with our father about your new mission, and he has—surprisingly—agreed to help out however he can. He also told me to tell you to look for someone named Ral. I don't really know what he was talking about, but whoever this Ral fellow is may know something about those mysterious soldiers._ Winter frowned as she continued to read the message. First off, why did Weiss send a text? She normally sends voice files.

 _She must be busy._ Winter assumed.

Atlas: Schnee Family Estate

Needless to say, Weiss was rather busy, and could not find the time to properly word a voice message. In fact, she had been trying to get a text to her sister since she woke up at six, but she had been so busy that she could only manage to type out a few words at a time before something else came up. Apparently, in light of these strange soldiers, Torchwick's escape, and the attempt on her life, her father had brought her back to Atlas where she could be safely guarded. She only hoped that once things calmed down, her training for Beacon could once more resume.

Weiss sighed as she put her Scroll in a pocket of her favorite jacket, only for it to vibrate seconds later. She pulled it back out to see a response from Winter.

 _Thank you, sis. Tell Dad I really appreciate anything he can do to help._ Weiss read.

She sighed, but felt a small smile. Despite the falling out that Winter and their dad had with each other when her sister had joined the military, the fact remained that they were still family. She put the Scroll back in its pocket and looked up to her fencing instructor approaching her. "Miss Schnee, your father has decided that your lessons will continue here in Atlas until further notice." the man said.

Weiss nodded. "What're we waiting for? Let's get started." she said, drawing her rapier.

"Er…Very well." her instructor replied, wondering why Weiss kept her rapier with her at all times. Then again, there _was_ an attempt on her life only yesterday, so the man chalked it up to that.

Weiss planted her right foot just ahead of her left foot and kept them shoulder-width apart. She tilted her weapon at the proper angle for starting on the offensive, while being just as capable of defending herself.

Her instructor drew his own rapier, taking a more aggressive stance and resting his off-hand behind his back. "Your move, milady."

The Wilderness

Shejas sighed as he guided the shuttle to the coordinates that Tray had given him. He looked to his right to see Tray at the co-pilot's seat. "Are you sure this is still a good idea? I mean, what if someone sees us?" He asked.

"I trust that Ral knows what he is doing." Tray replied. "He has yet to do anything harmful toward us, and I think he truly wants to help."

"If you say so. I still think the Jedi has an ulterior motive…" Shejas mumbled.

"If Ral wanted to kill us—"

"—Which he did when you guys first ran into him." Shejas interrupted.

"…If he still wanted to kill us, he's had ample opportunities. You heard what happened to Manrica. He would've died had Ral not saved him. Why save someone you want dead?" Tray finished.

"I guess you're right. I just can't shake the feeling that he's up to something…Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid."

"Hey!" Shejas protested, despite the smirks on the two's faces.

"Excuse me, but are we almost there?" a voice asked.

Tray looked over his shoulder to see Elize standing in the cockpit doorway. "On the ground within the hour. Is there something you need there?"

"Uh…Well…after reading up a little on Remnant, me and some of the other non-combatants decided that we want to experience this new world for ourselves." Elize explained.

"You want to see their technology first-hand." Tray stated.

"Their technology is nowhere near the same level as ours, but some aspects of it are unique and quite interesting. Most races, especially humanity, generally advanced in similar ways. Sure, there are some exceptions for the more exotic aliens like the Mon Calamari; but once electricity and other technologies were harnessed, we all rapidly advanced. Looking at Remnant's history, they don't have electricity as we know it. This…Dust seems to be a 'one-size-fits-all' answer to almost everything they have. Tibanna gas is all but replaced by Dust, blaster bolts are somehow replaced by Dust, and almost all forms of power is replaced by…Dust" Elize said.

"Uh…Who's that?" Shejas, looking at Tray, whispered, despite Elize hearing him.

"Elize, head engineer. We haven't really had a chance to introduce ourselves to you soldier types." Elize said sheepishly.

"Engineer, eh? I reckon that you would be a better choice for finding a replacement comm satellite than any of us 'soldier types.'" Shejas replied.

Elize crossed her arms. "Just because I'm an engineer does not mean that my specialty is in communications. I wouldn't assume that the Lieutenant here is a role model for front-line combat just because he's a soldier." she chided.

Shejas paused for a bit until he finally said, "…Touché."

"Do you even know what the Jedi wants?" Elize asked, looking at Tray.

"It's not what _he_ wants. The rest of the squad is in on it. Ral apparently knows where Torchwick is, so we are are going to try capturing him." Tray replied.

"We don't have the facilities to hold a prisoner." Elize pointed out.

"We're not taking him as a prisoner. The plan is that we arrest Torchwick and hand him over to the local authorities." Tray answered. He looked over to Shejas and said, "We're coming up on the coordinates. Get ready."

Tray stood up from his seat and walked past Elize. Shejas looked over his shoulder and said, "Hey, where're you going?"

"I'm going with them." Tray stated.

"Wait what?! Didn't you put Taddrei in charge so you don't have to, I don't know, expose your face?" Shejas questioned.

"They'll need someone with more experience to lead them." Tray stated, leaving the cockpit before Shejas could protest again.

He entered the makeshift armory of the shuttle and grabbed a few blaster packs, picking up a spare E-11 rifle. _Not my first choice, but I'm no good with heavier blasters._ he thought, wishing that Ral had not destroyed his preferred blaster. Once his E-11 was ready, he looked around the armory and saw his officer armor. After hesitating for only a moment, Tray started to strap the armor to himself. While it was nowhere nearly as protective as stormtrooper armor, his own gave off an air of authority or even fear when the right person wore it. When he thumped the chest plate to make sure it was secure, he noticed something. A small burn mark that was not there before. Looking more closely at the mark, it was more than just burned paint. It was actually a small hole. _When did that get there?_ he thought.

Ignoring that thought, Tray looked at the last piece of his combat uniform; the helmet. He felt conflicted. Like many aspects of the Imperial military, a full combat officer uniform was meant to give off an aura of authority, and intimidate the more cowardly members of the galactic community. The all-white armor of the Stormtrooper Corps was meant to show that the Empire was so powerful that it had grown far past the need to conceal its soldiers. Even Imperial Scouts, one of the more stealth-oriented divisions of the military wore a lot of white on their armor.

Tray had to remind himself that this was Remnant, not the rest of the galaxy. The Empire meant nothing to them. _Would the intimidation factor even come into play?_ … _Enough of that. I'll need all the protection I can get._ he thought, putting the helmet on his head and strapping it into place. He had to admit, it did feel good to be fully equipped again.

Now that he was ready for combat, Tray started to gather the equipment of his squad-mates. He opened the small foot-lockers that contained all their equipment except for their armor.

Trio poked his head into the armory and said, "What's going on?"

"The squad knows where Roman Torchwick is, and they want to arrest him." Tray stated, setting some of Taddrei's thermal detonators next to his armor.

"They're expecting a fight." Trio commented.

"They are…Did you hear about Manrica?" Tray replied.

"About how he got burned by Torchwick? Yeah." Trio said, walking over to Taddrei's equipment.

"What are you doing?" Tray asked.

"Taddrei modified his armor to hold some extra ammo and detonators. Thing is, he made hidden compartments to put them in." Trio explained, opening a part of Taddrei's stormtrooper armor and putting in a pair of detonators.

"Hmm…That's actually a pretty good idea." Tray commented, grabbing Soltrev's marksman rifle and setting it in front of his armor.

"Yeah, but it makes some of his armor a size bigger since he had to make room for the compartments. It also makes those parts of his armor weaker since it's hollow where the they are." Trio said.

"So his armor is not up to Imperial standards?" Tray asked.

"Yeah. He would've got into a lot of trouble if someone found out. Good thing no one cares anymore." Trio said with a smirk.

Tray nodded and finished gathering Soltrev's gear.

"Hey. Tray." Trio said.

Tray looked up in slight surprise that Trio even said his name. "Yes?"

"You're going with them aren't you?" Trio asked, finishing putting Taddrei's extra ammo in the hidden compartments.

"I am. Are you?"

Trio smirked and picked up his electrostaff. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"That's what I like to hear."

The two looked up at the ceiling on feeling that the shuttle had landed.

"All we have to do now is wait for them." Tray stated.

Trio rolled his eyes. "Your grasp of the obvious is inspiring…sir." He said, hiding a small smirk at the end.

City of Vale: CCTS Tower

Ral patiently stood in the main courtyard area of the CCTS, waiting for the Imperials to come back. That is, he would've been waiting patiently were it not for the fact that some journalists found him.

"Mister Saffron, what do you have to say about the rumors of slave labor in the Schnee Dust quarries?"

"Mister Saffron, what are you thoughts on the White Fang? Are they truly terrorists, or are they just misunderstood?"

"Mister Saffron, is it true that you were born outside of the kingdoms?"

Ral sighed and slightly looked up. _Masters, if you're seeing this right now, I truly thank you for the lessons in patience I have learned from all of you._ he thought.

"I will not be answering your questions."

On seeing how serious he looked, the journalists slowly gave up in their questioning, all except for one.

"You there, you win." Ral stated, looking at the woman.

The woman looked at Ral in confusion "…What?"

"You're the last one, so you get to ask questions that I'll actually answer." Ral explained.

"Oh. Well then…" the woman began, surprised that Ral was doing this.

The journalist cleared her throat and said, "Mister Saffron, is it true that you knew about the assassination attempt on Weiss Schnee? If so, how did you come across this information?"

"I did, but I cannot tell you how." Ral replied, with the woman writing down his answer.

"What drove you to do this? The entire Schnee family is hated by the White Fang, and by extension, those who help them are almost, if not more, hated by them."

 _An honest enough question._ Ral thought. "I am a Huntsman. It is my duty to protect people. I do not care if protecting an unpopular individual would paint a target on my back. What kind of Huntsman would I be if I valued my personal reputation over someone's life?"

"You say you want to help people, but did you consider that you may very well have killed one of the White Fang assassins?" the woman asked.

 _I don't like where this is going._ Ral thought. "…I go to great lengths to ensure that I do not kill anyone if I can help it."

"Then why is your infamous weapon designed to be so deadly?" the journalist asked. "Is there some dark past that you do not wish to brought to the light?" she asked somewhat arrogantly.

"My weapon's purpose is none of your business. A Huntsman's weapon is designed to kill Grimm. Logically, those same designs are just as efficient against Humans and Faunus. Asking a Huntsman to make a weapon that does not kill is like asking why we need food and water—to survive." Ral replied.

The woman nodded, seeming a little disappointed on getting rather vague answers from Ral. "Alright, next question. Is it true that you were in a secret relationship with a woman that is half-Human and half-Faunus?

 _Seriously?! This again?!_ Ral thought, resisting the huge temptation to knock the woman upside the head. "…I've had enough of your snide insinuations." he said, brushing past the journalist.

"Hey! I'm not done yet!" the woman protested.

"We're done." Ral said with finality.

Ral ignored the slanderous comments from the woman and walked away. He pulled out his Scroll to look at the time. _Hmm…The shuttle should be arriving soon. I should probably head out,_ he thought, leaving the CCTS plaza.

As Ral reached the outskirts of the city, a small group of men approached him from behind. Ral didn't pay them any mind until he noticed that they were quite well dressed. Without warning, the men pulled out guns not unlike those used by Torchwick's men and opened fire on Ral. He flipped into the air, sending a blast of Force power toward them, knocking them all over. The moment his feet hit the ground, he took off running.

City of Vale Outskirts

Taddrei sighed in annoyance. First, the Jedi just ditches him and his squad mates in the forest while everyone is unarmed except for Soltrev with his vibroknife. Either way, it didn't matter. Due to to Soltrev's little knife marks, they were able to find their way out of the forest and get back into Vale. After going through one of the guarded gates to the city, the squad looked around, wondering where they were.

"This isn't where we left the city." Renbra pointed out.

"How do you know?" Katlin asked.

Renbra hesitated before pointing to a building. "I don't know about you, but I would remember seeing something like that."

The squad looked, and some of them quickly looked away, agreeing with Renbra over the quite disturbing graffiti on the side of a building.

"Stupid kids just can't keep their minds out of the gutter." Brenver mumbled.

They walked around for a bit until they saw Ral running straight for them.

Ral ran past them, nearly knocking Taddrei flat on his back. "Hey! What happened?" he called out.

"Can't talk!" Ral yelled back.

The ex-Imperials looked in the direction that Ral came from and saw a group of admittedly well-dressed men running toward them. What raised more than a few red flags were the weapons in their hands.

"Ruuun!" Taddrei yelled in realization, taking off with his squad just behind him.

"Get out of our way!" one of the well-dressed men yelled, trying to take aim at Ral, but lowered it once the Imperials got in the way. With a growl, the gunman followed the rest of his team.

Ral ran through the gates, with the Imperials right behind him. Ral spun around and reached out to the Force, slamming the gate shut. Taddrei quickly ignored the fact that this was the gate they had just entered the city through.

"Open the gates!" one of the hitmen notably yelled.

"That won't last very long." Ral warned, continuing to run.

Taddrei spared a glance at the now closed gate and saw that it was already opening back up, albeit slowly. He quickly turned around and ran for all he was worth to catch up with the others.

When the gate opened, the guards were lying unconscious and the hit-squad burst through, trying to chase after Ral and the Imperials.

One of the hitmen fired at the group, but none of the bullets found their mark. Ral leapt into the air, turning around and using the Force to throw a small tree at the hitmen. The hitmen scrambled to get out of the way, but the very end of the tree bowled into one of them, partially pinning him to the ground.

 _One down._ Ral thought when he rolled on landing back on the ground and continuing on his way.

As the two groups ran through the forest, Taddrei pulled out his comm. "Tray, now would be a good time to show up!"

" _What's going on?"_ Tray asked over the comm.

"I don't know what Ral did, but we're bringing some unwanted company with us." Taddrei warned.

" _What did you…Never mind. I probably don't want to know. I'll tell Shejas to be ready for a hot extraction just in case you don't lose them."_

"We'll do our best to get them off our tail. Taddrei out."

" _Good luck."_

Taddrei put the comm away and looked behind him to see Ral send a large boulder toward the hitmen. It did not hit any of them, but it certainly slowed them down quite a bit. Taddrei looked back ahead and quickly ducked under a low-hanging tree branch.

One of the hitmen pulled out a red Dust crystal and channeled his Aura into it. "Fire!" he roared thrusting out the hand with the crystal and sending an infernal torrent flying toward Ral and the Imperials.

"Aaahahaa!" Soltrev yelled, ripping off his burning shirt and dropping it to the ground, quickly setting the grass on fire.

"Keep going! Don't stop running!" Ral yelled, using the Force to keep the torrential flames at bay. With Ral no longer throwing anything at the hitmen, they pressed on with their pursuit, now firing their weapons with impunity.

Another hitman raised his weapon and fired at Katlin, grazing her shoulder. She grit her teeth, but pressed on. The black uniform jumpsuits they wore under their clothes were almost useless against bullets. _So much for protection…_ she thought, trying to think of anything other than the sudden bitting pain in her shoulder.

"We're almost there!" Ral yelled, finally able to continue his attempts to slow down the hitmen once the fire-storm ended. He called out to the Force and sent a blast of pure power toward the hitmen, sending three of them flying backwards. One of them had his back crash into a tree, nearly breaking it were it not for his Aura, while the other two rolled along the ground for a good ten feet.

Taddrei burst into the clearing, with the shuttle waiting for them. Tray and Trio were standing at the bottom of the ramp, wearing their combat gear. Trio held a T-21 blaster, while Tray was holding an E-11. "Come on!" Tray yelled, waving them over.

Taddrei felt a renewed burst of energy and started to run faster, sprinting straight up the ramp with Brenver and Renbra just behind him.

The remaining hitmen burst into the clearing, looking at the shuttle in confusion for an instant before one of them was gunned down by blaster-fire. They instantly retreated back into the tree-line, firing at the entire group. Trio and Tray were hit a few times, but their armor held up against the solid projectiles. While their armor made them virtually untouchable, the hitmen had no defense against the scarily-accurate blasters. Two of the hitmen went down much faster than even the Imperials were expecting. Whether blasters could tear through Aura, or the men had none to begin with was a question that would never be answered.

Katlin ran up the ramp, clutching at her shoulder; followed by Soltrev, who was noticeably lacking his Remnant shirt.

Once Ral entered the shuttle, Tray tapped on Trio's shoulder. "We're done here! Let's go!" he shouted.

Trio growled as he fired off a few more shots, hitting one last hitman square in the chest. He backed up the ramp, firing off his blaster until his weapon overheated. Trio let the heat vents cool off his weapon before trying to fire again, but the ramp was fully up by the time his blaster was ready. The shuttle lifted off the ground and flew up a few feet, the hitmen firing at the ship in vain. The outermost wings of the ship folded into the proper flying position, and the shuttle flew away.

The hitmen slowly entered the clearing, with one of them putting his weapon away. "Damn. They got away. She is not going to be happy."

Another hitman put his weapon away and said, "What were those weapons that the two at the ramp had? I've never seen bullets like those before."

"What I want to know is what kind of ship that was. I've never seen anything like it before." the first hitman said.

"Enough about them. We failed to take down that Hunter. We don't get paid. You're all very lucky that _you_ won't be the one reporting our failure to _her_."

Trio sighed and felt his adrenaline fade by the second. Once he calmed down, he quickly walked over to Katlin, wrapping her uninjured arm around his shoulder. "You were holding your shoulder in pain. Let's get you to the medbay." he said, with the medic tiredly nodding and nearly shuffling her feet along the floor.

Tray walked into the armory and hastily threw his blaster to the side. "Blast…We just gave ourselves away to those…whoever those men were."

"They were after me." Ral said.

Tray looked up at the Jedi. "What for?"

"I was the one that captured Torchwick the first time. If anyone sent a whole group of hitmen for me, it's got to be Torchwick."

Tray shrugged, not sure what to say. He didn't know anything about Torchwick, but from what little he had heard was not good. First, he burned Manrica, now he sent a hit squad on Ral. He sighed and walked over to the E-11 he was using to put it back where it belonged. He looked over his shoulder to see Ral stepping out of the way for the Imperials. They had taken off their Remnant clothing, waring only their trooper jumpsuits, but judging by the look on their faces, they were ready for a fight. Taddrei walked over to his armor and looked at Tray.

"Did you get our stuff together?" he asked.

Tray nodded. "Trio helped to put your gear together. You should probably carry fewer detonators. You'll go off like a bomb if you trip and fall the wrong way."

Taddrei nervously chuckled. "I'll…keep that in mind, sir."

The Imperials that went to Vale put on their stormtrooper armor, with Brenver rolling his shoulders when he was done. "Ah. It feels good to be in this armor again." he sighed.

"Tell me about it. I felt too…vulnerable without it." Renbra agreed.

Taddrei put on the last of his armor and also rolled his shoulders, to let his armor settle around him. Now that Tray could see the man in his armor, he could see what Trio meant when he said it was a little bulkier than it should be.

Tray walked over to an intercom and pressed a button. "Shejas, where are we headed?"

" _Anywhere but here._ "

"Good enough."

Tray ended the short call and looked back at his squad. "Where's Katlin?" he asked.

"I saw Trio taking her to the medbay." Soltrev said.

"Is she okay?"

Soltrev nodded. "I think so. She took a hit by those gunmen, but it didn't look too bad. The way she just kept running, it probably just grazed her."

"I'll go check on her." Tray said, walking out of the armory.

Tray passed by Elize, who nodded at him before getting back to…whatever she was doing.

When Tray walked into the medbay, he saw Trio digging through some of the drawers, looking for something. Looking a little to the left, he saw Katlin sitting on one of the medbay's cots. _That's…not a graze._ Tray thought on seeing a bullet lodged in Katlin's shoulder.

"Trio, the scissors are over there." Katlin said, pointing to a small cabinet with her good arm.

"Are you alright, Katlin?" Tray asked.

Katlin picked up a gauze pad and pressed it onto her shoulder to stop the bleeding, quietly wincing. "I'll be fine. Just give me a little time."

"We don't have time, Katlin. If Torchwick sent those men, he'll know that they failed, and he'll probably disappear. I don't know how Ral knows where he is, but I don't want to run the risk of him disappearing. If you're not fully healed by the time we attack him, you're staying with the ship." Tray said sternly.

"But I—"

"No 'buts.' I'm not going to risk your shoulder distracting you at the worst time." Tray ordered.

"…Yes sir."

Tray noticed Trio looking at him. When the two made eye-contact, Trio nodded as if to say, _You made the right choice._

Trio walked over to Katlin, holding a pair of scissors by the blades. Katlin removed the gauze pad from her shoulder and cut away part of her jumpsuit. She stared at her shoulder. "What the hell is that thing?" she wondered aloud.

"That looks like a cycler rifle round. Haven't seen one of these since my tour on Tatooine." Trio offered.

"Well…It's in the way." Katlin whispered. She looked at Tray and Trio and said, "Get this bullet out." She removed the gauze pad and carefully pulled her arm out of her jumpsuit to give them more room to work with.

"I don't know the first thing about first-aid." Trio said apologetically.

"I'll do it." Tray said, grabbing a pair of tweezers. He let out a short burst of air through his nose and said, "You're lucky this thing is small. I've seen much larger rounds."

Katlin tensed at the tweezers touched her bare skin and winced when Tray tugged at the bullet. "Ow…"

"You'll be fine, Katlin." Tray said in what he hoped was a comforting voice. He tugged at the bullet again, feeling it give way. "Come on, you stupid piece of metal." he said. With one last tug, he pulled the partially imbedded bullet out of Katlin's shoulder and reapplied the gauze pad to stem the flow of blood.

"G-get the kolto." Katlin whimpered, pointing to a small canister.

Trio grabbed the capsule and handed it to Tray, who slowly dabbed another gauze pad in the medicinal substance. He then lifted the pad out of the capsule and pulled off the gauze that was currently on Katlin's shoulder to replace it.

Katlin sharply breathed in when the cool kolto touched her tender wound, but felt the pain begin to fade.

Tray stepped away from Katlin and said, "Just rest, Katlin. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to risk that wound reopening in a fight. You're sitting out of any missions until you're fully healed."

"Yes sir." Katlin said, leaning back in her cot to rest.

Tray looked back at Trio and said, "Let's give her some room."

The two walked out of the medbay, leaving Katlin to her thoughts until she felt sleep coming over her.

Tray and Trio parted ways, with Tray walking to the cockpit, and Trio reentering the armory.

When Tray entered the cockpit, he saw Ral and Taddrei sitting in two of the four chairs. "Status?" Tray asked of Shejas.

"We're clear. Not getting anymore of those annoying little pings that something hit us." Shejas said.

Taddrei stood up and said, "Sir, I'd like to apologize. We just gave away knowledge of our shuttle to the enemy, and I—"

"It was through no fault of your own." Ral interrupted, with all eyes settling on him. "Those men were after me, but I thought that I could lose them in the city before we reached your shuttle. Do not blame Taddrei for my problems. I guess it's just one more reason for me to help you take Torchwick down."

"You're going to help us?" Tray asked.

"Of course. I put him in prison the first time, and he is too dangerous to be allowed to roam the streets."

Tray put a hand to his chin in thought. "You said you know where he is right?"

"Yes."

"Is this time-sensitive intel, or do you have ways of finding out where he is at any time?"

"I can sense him in the Force. He is…quite angry."

"I'll take it. Where is he?"

"One of your own is hospitalized, and another has a shoulder wound. Do you really want to go after Torchwick?"

Tray opened his mouth to reply, but found nothing to say.

"Torchwick will still be around. In the meantime, you should focus on bringing your group back together. I have arranged for Manrica to be taken to my ship. As we speak, he is being moved so I can bring him to my home, where he will be safe."

"Safe? What happened?"

"He was attacked in the hospital by an assassin, probably sent by Torchwick to silence your friend."

"What?!"

Ral held up a hand to calm Tray down. "Do not worry. He is okay now. I was able to drive the assassin away. All we need now is for me to get to my ship so I can take him to my home."

"What about Torchwick?"

"He won't be going anywhere, and if he does, I know how to find him."

"…Okay. We'll head back to your home, and you bring Manrica to us." Tray said. He looked at Shejas and said, "Find a clearing to drop off Ral in, and then set a course for Ral's home."

"You got it, boss." Shejas said, turning around in his seat and turning off the auto-pilot.

"There's no need to land to drop me off. Just lower the ramp." Ral stated.

"Are you crazy, man?" Taddrei blurted.

"I will be fine. The Force will guide me."

"Right. The Force." Taddrei mumbled.

Shejas looked over his shoulder at Tray and said, "Should we?"

Tray looked at Ral, and on seeing the conviction in the Jedi's eyes, looked back at Shejas and nodded. Shejas hesitantly reached for a button and pressed it. "The ramp's lowering. You should go." he said.

Ral bowed his head and walked out of the cockpit. Ral ignored everyone else in the shuttle as he headed for the exit ramp to see that it had just finished fully lowering. He took in a quick breath before running toward it, leaping off the ramp, not caring how high up he was. He felt the sudden rush of air buffeting him, sending his old robes flapping in the wind as he fell. He reached out to the Force around him and frowned in confusion. For reasons unknown to him, the Force felt…stronger here. As the ground grew closer and closer, he felt the power of the Force fading to levels that he had grown used to over the last ten years.

He shook those thoughts out of his mind. He could think about this later. What mattered was that he was now rapidly getting closer and closer to the ground. He closed his eyes and focused on gathering the Force inwards. Just as he entered the forest around him, he called out to the Force and landed flat on his feet, only having to bend them a little bit. When he hit the ground, the built-up power burst out of him, sending a nearby pack of Beowulves off their feet.

Ral smirked and ignited his lightsaber and took a defensive stance.

The closest Beowulf growled and charged at him, but Ral stood his ground. The Beowulf opened its jaws wide, ready to draw human blood. Just as the large teeth nearly clamped around Ral, the Beowulf was sliced in two, falling to either side of the Jedi Knight.

The rest of the pack converged on Ral, but he effortlessly cut down each and every one of them until only a few were left. He leaped over the last of the charge, slashing his lightsaber along the length of the creature's back, ending its wretched life.

Ral adjusted his grip on his weapon and prepared for a tougher fight. _Those were just the younger ones. Time for the big ones._ he thought when he took note of the bulkier builds of these Beowulves. As the few remaining creatures of Grimm surrounded him, Ral looked over them, looking for the Alpha, arguably the most dangerous of any Beowulf pack.

His eyes settled on the Beowulf Alpha and narrowed them dangerously. _You're mine._ he thought. Just before the remaining Beowulves could make a move, Ral darted forward in the blink of an eye. The Alpha backpedaled away from the lightsaber and stood up on its hind legs in an attempt to intimidate Ral. Too bad much larger Grimm had tried the same thing and failed miserably.

One of the other Beowulves lunged at Ral from behind, but the Jedi stepped to the side and swung his lightsaber through one of the beast's front legs, making it fall over. Before it could try to stand on its hind legs, Ral quickly brought his lightsaber back up and cut off its head.

The Alpha roared at seeing one of its larger members fall and charged at Ral. It jumped before it reached Ral, hoping to add its full weight into its attack, but the Jedi held up his lightsaber to block the attack. Ral's lightsaber clashed with one of the bone-like plating on the Alpha's arms, but it unfortunately held up against the deadly blade. Ral grit his teeth and spun away from the large beast, stabbing his blade deep into another Beowulf before rushing back to the Alpha.

The Alpha once again jumped back from Ral's lightsaber. Before Ral could close the gap, the Alpha bared its shoulder and rammed into the Jedi, sending him flying. Ral flipped in the air and landed squarely on his feet. Ral leapt into the air and landed in-between two of the Beowulves. Before the beasts could make a move, Ral made a diagonal cut that swept from the one on his right to the one on the left, cutting them both in half. _It's so strange that these creatures rarely bleed._ he absently thought as he used the Force to send the Alpha flying into a tree. He turned and ran for the last normal Beowulf and ended its life with a swing of his weapon.

The Alpha slowly stood up, disoriented by its sudden trip. When its blood-red eyes settled on Ral, it slowly growled and barred its teeth. Ral held up his lightsaber in a defensive position, ready for the Alpha to make the next move.

There was no next move. The Alpha's head seemed to implode on itself, its face mask falling to the ground.

Ral looked behind him to see a man holding a smoking weapon. He raised an eyebrow and deactivated his lightsaber. "…Thanks for the help, but I could have handled myself, Qrow."

The man slightly smirked before putting his weapon away. "I'm sure you could, Ral. I was just passing by and saw you fighting those Beowulves. I'd hate to leave behind a damsel-in-distress."

Ral frowned and said, "I assure you that I would have been just fine."

The man named Qrow shrugged and said, "Yeah yeah, keep telling yourself that. What are you doing out in the middle of nowhere, anyway?"

"I could ask the same of you."

"True, but I'm out here because of you-know-who. As far as I know, you haven't been asked to go out here."

"I was just looking to eliminate some Grimm. I would hate to lose my edge." Ral said.

"Can't argue with that. Well, I'd better get back to it." Qrow said, putting his weapon away and walking away.

"Qrow." Ral said, with the man looking over his shoulder. "Whatever you're doing…may the Force be with you."

Qrow paused before rolling his eyes and walking once more. "Sure. Whatever."

 **Have a good one!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Surprise! I'm back! Here's a new chapter for you guys, and I hope you enjoy! Thank you for the views, follows, favorites, and reviews!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 12: Shadowed Hands**

A lone man breathed in a rapid, panicked fashion. He backed away from his pursuer, only to find that his back was now against a wall. He looked up, trying to find a small foothold to escape with, but found none. As the person hunting him drew ever closer, the man desperately clawed at the wall blocking his escape to no avail, causing the tips of his fingers to start bleeding.

The man turned around and slowly crouched down, deciding to see if his hunter was willing to make a compromise, or at least be merciful.

"Braza…I-I'll pay you double! Triple! Please! Please don't kill me! I'm worth more alive!" the man pleaded, being reduced to a blubbering mess as his hunter held a sword just inches away from his head.

"You're worth enough… _dead_ " the man named Braza said in a nearly emotionless voice, pulling a mechanism from the sword's hilt to reveal a hidden gun. He fired the gun. He watched the blood ooze out of his prey's head, feeling a euphoric chill run down his spine.

He lowered his smoking weapon and pulled out a Scroll, taking a picture of his newest victim's body. He then started composing a message, uploading it to his client. _Ruffus Sheldon is dead_ the message said, with the picture of the dead man.

A few seconds later, he got a response. _5,000 lien will be transferred to your account. I would have preferred if you brought him in alive, but it is of no consequence that he is dead. Thank you for your service, Mister_ _Braza_ _._

Braza walked away, relishing in another successful hunt when he remembered that there was a voice message from a few minutes ago on his phone. He looked at it and played the message. _"_ _Braza_ _, it's me! Your old friend, Roman! Look, I know we haven't talked in a long time, but I need your help with something. You know how I broke out of jail yesterday? Well, I want you to make sure that the person that put me in prison the first time doesn't try it again. I'll make sure that you are well paid for doing this. That is, if you agree to this. Fifty-thousand lien will be yours for doing this job, and I'll see to it that some of my associates can…'lose' a few pounds of Fire Dust."_

Braza smirked and pressed a button to call Roman Torchwick, holding the Scroll to his ear.

" _Hello?"_

"Torchwick. It's me, Braza."

" _Braza_ _! Buddy! I had a feeling you'd call me soon!"_

"Shut it, Torchwick. We're not friends."

" _Right. Right. So are you taking the job or not?"_

Braza grinned and said, "I just finished a contract, so I can do it. Who's the poor lad that pissed you off?"

 _"Does Jonquil Saffron ring any bells? Tall, brown-hair, wears some really weird bath ropes, and uses a yellow light sword thing? Oh, did I mention he has a telekinesis Semblance?"_

Braza felt a deep-rooted rage that had not been uncovered in years. "I know who he is." he growled.

 _"Perfect. You mind offing him for me? My boys and some stupid hitmen have already failed to kill him. I saw your name come up recently and figured, 'Hey? Why not ask if he's open for business'?"_

"If it means I get a chance at killing that man, I'm all yours; but fifty-thousand is a lot of money, even for you."

" _I assure you that killing Jonquil is worth the cost. It's even better since I'm not the only one who wants him gone. My boss also wants Jonquil to be nothing more than a smear on the ground."_

Braza raised on eyebrow on hearing Torchwick say that he has a boss, but decided to not press the issue. "Just tell me where I can meet your boss, and we'll discuss the details."

" _I can't tell you over the phone. You never know who might be listening, and by 'who,' I mean 'cops.'"_ Torchwick replied. _"I'll send someone to escort you personally. Just head to the alley next to the From Dust Till Dawn on Swan Avenue tomorrow at noon, and someone will be there to meet you."_

"And how am I supposed to know who this messenger is?" Braza questioned.

" _Just look for brown and pink eyes. I'm pretty sure you know who I'm talking about."_

"…Understood, boy."

" _Don't call me that."_

Braza smirked and terminated the call. He looked ahead when he heard the sounds of sirens and thought, _Time to move_.

He leapt into the air to almost inhuman heights and landed on a nearby roof. He looked down on the now much further away body of his newest victim and thought, _Another day, another hunt. Hunting Jonquil will surely restore my reputation. I will reclaim what is mine!_ he thought, relishing the thought of killing Jonquil. _Those Atlas soldiers, and that Schnee woman should've died five years ago, but you ruined me that day…A storm is coming, Jonquil, and there will be hell to pay._

 _Vale Outskirts_

Ral shivered a bit. He looked up and felt something wet tap on his face. He rolled his shoulders and pulled his hood over his head. _Of course it would start to rain,_ he thought, picking up the pace to keep from getting stuck in the mud. Just when the walls of Vale were in sight, Ral started to leap, calling to the Force to help him. Just when the rain started to turn to a downpour, he burst through the tree line and slowed down.

As he approached one of the gates, he saw that one of the gate guards was on the verge of falling asleep. The other guard at the gate saw this and nudged his shoulder. "Hey, wake up, man. It's not even Three o'clock!" The man noticed Ral and said, "Who're you?"

"A Huntsman" Ral replied, pulling out a small card. The guard took the card and looked over it, his eyes slightly glistening in recognition. He looked at Ral and said, "Welcome back to Vale, Mister Saffron."

The guard that was close to falling asleep put a finger to an earpiece and said, "Open the gate."

Ral patiently waited for the gate to open before bowing his head to the guards. "Thank you, gentlemen" he said, walking back into the city.

Ral ignored everything going on around him, making as much progress as he could toward his ship. He ignored the whispers of recognition. He ignored the sounds of the city. He even ignored the kids that accidentally ran into him.

When he reached his ship, he saw an ambulance leaving the landing strip. _They must have just dropped off Manrica,_ he thought, walking to his ship. He pulled out his Scroll and remotely opened the door, entering the ship. He walked around in the cargo hold until he made his way to the cockpit. He found Manrica strapped down on a bed inside.

"Hello, Manrica. How are you feeling?" he asked, only for the stormtrooper to not respond.

 _Must have been sedated for the move_ he thought, sitting down in the pilot's chair. he began the start-up sequence.

When the ship lifted off the ground, he saw Manrica slowly stir. He looked over to the stormtrooper and said, "Welcome back."

Manrica groaned and slowly tried to sit up and said, "Where…where am I?"

"You're on my ship, Manrica. I'm taking you to your Imperial friends." Ral replied, putting in the coordinates of his home.

"…Where is your ship?"

"If you're asking where the ship is, you're on it."

"No. I mean, _where_ are we?"

"Ah. You're on the planet Remnant. Do you remember?"

Manrica groaned and rubbed at his forehead. "Uh…I just can't remember anything. What happened to me?" He looked down at his heavily burned arm and his eyes widened in both realization and fear.

Ral held out his hands in a peaceful manner and said, "Calm down. You were attacked. Do you remember that?" _The sedative they used must be much stronger than what the rest of the galaxy uses if it's made him this…groggy_ he thought.

Manrica paused to think and then said, "Yeah…I think I remember."

"Good. Now, I'll be taking you back to your squad where you will be safe."

"Why are you…Oh, you're that Jedi!"

"Glad to know you remember me." Ral quipped.

Manrica lay in the small cot as his memories slowly returned. "Yeesh. That Torchwick guy was no joke" he commented, looking down at his burns.

"Your friends may have some bacta, so you should be as good as new."

Manrica shifted in his cot and said, "Yeah…about that."

"What?"

"I may or may not be allergic to bacta."

Ral looked at Manrica in amazement and said, "…How?"

"It was a part of of some rebel attack on Ashern a few years ago. They did…something to a large shipment of bacta; making anyone who got exposed to it become allergic to bacta. I was one of those people."

Ral paused for a bit, looking down at the ground below. "…I'm sorry to hear that."

"I don't know if kolto will do anything bad to me, but I don't want to risk that." Manrica replied, looking down at his arm. "…This has got to be the worst I've ever been hurt though."

Ral nodded and turned back to face the window. "We should be there in about two hours."

"What if we're attacked?" Manrica asked, remembering the Nevermore that attacked the Imperials' shuttle.

"There shouldn't be another incident like that. I do my best to keep the skies clear. Besides, even if there are Grimm in the sky, your shuttle will likely be more than enough to take care of any threats" Ral replied. He looked at a radio when it made a quick sound.

"… _ello? Is anyone on…channel? Ple…spond!"_

Ral quickly started turning a dial until the voice grew more clear.

" _If anyone can hear this, there is a horde of Grimm heading our way! We don't have the firepower to take them out and we need immediate reinforcements! Hell, we'll take an evacuation!"_

Ral and Manrica exchanged looks before Manrica said, "Those people desperately need help. I can wait; just shoot me up with…whatever put me under."

Ral slowly shook his head. "There is nothing I could do."

"What?! You're a Jedi! Your job is to help people and keep the peace, right?"

"I am no Jedi. Not anymore" Ral replied, tuning the radio out of the unknown man's desperate cries for help.

Manrica looked at Ral in shock. "But—"

"It is my decision to make, _Imperial_. You do not know how this world works. Settlements have vanished overnight, and will continue to do so."

"That's a coward's excuse!" Manrica spat.

"What would you have me do? Risk ourselves for a lost cause?" Ral calmly replied.

"You don't know that!"

"Trust me on this, Imperial. Those people knew the risks of living outside the kingdoms. Even if we were to rescue them, what would we do? Take them back to a kingdom that does not have the room or resources for them to live the way they used to?"

Manrica opened his mouth to respond, but Ral cut him off. "You may not see it, Imperial, but Remnant is one of the most dangerous planets that I have been to. Life is but a vapor; here one moment, gone the next. _That_ is life on Remnant."

Manrica was not sure what happened, but as Ral spoke, he felt…afraid. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was almost as if he could _feel_ Ral's emotions, and even the ship became a little shaky. Manrica could feel an almost riveting anger and an immense regret flowing around him. His eyes slowly widened when he realized that Ral was the source of this phenomenon.

"You think I do _not_ want to do anything? You do not know how hard it is for me to hear messages like this, _knowing_ that I cannot do a thing about it." Ral growled. He closed his eyes and Manrica felt the strange presence of anger fade. When the Jedi's eyes opened, he said, "I apologize. While the Force is weaker on this world, it is much easier for powers driven by emotion to go wild."

"Uh…Whatever you say, man."

 _Ral's Cliffside Home_

Shejas leaned back in his chair and confidently folded his fingers behind his head. "Welp. Another uneventful flight under my belt."

"I wouldn't call a Jedi free-falling out of your ship 'uneventful.'" Tray quipped as he stood up from the co-pilot chair. As he left the cockpit, he saw Taddrei sitting in one of the other chairs, fast asleep. Tray grabbed Taddrei's right shoulder and slowly shook him awake. "Taddrei, wake up"

Taddrei slowly stirred and blearily opened his eyes. "…Huh?" he moaned.

"We're here."

Taddrei rubbed at his eyes and looked out of the cockpit. "Alright." he mumbled.

The ex-Imperials were waiting on the ramp to lower and when it did, they all filed out. As they walked away from the shuttle, they saw one of the kids at the cliffside home staring at them from a distance. Tray quickly looked back at Shejas and whispered, "Shejas, cover your head!"

Shejas quickly pressed a button on the side of his helmet, and the visor covered his face.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked.

"…Jonquil told us to come here."

"Why would my dad tell you guys to come here? I thought he didn't want you guys around?" the boy asked inquisitively.

"One of our own was injured, and…your father told us that he would be bringing him here."

The boy nodded and said, "Alright…Uh…I guess it'll be okay with him."

Tray looked at the boy and noticed the way he shuffled. He had definitely seen more than a few kids act this way around Imperial soldiers. "Are you okay?" he asked. "You seem nervous."

Ral's son shook his head. "No. I'm fine."

"You can tell me." Tray said gently.

The boy hesitated before saying, "…You're not going to hurt my daddy are you?"

The Imperials all exchanged looks. "Why would we do that?" Tray asked. "Your father has helped us a lot. We have no reason to want to hurt him."

The boy slowly nodded before smiling at them. "Okay!" he said, walking away.

Once the kid was out of sight, Taddrei softly smiled. "Cute kid."

"Yeah, but who's the mother? And why did a Jedi have a kid in the first place?" Trio asked.

The Imperials all whirled around when they heard the sound of the hangar door opening and saw a Remnant ship pulling in. In a moment of panic, they did not consider that this was Ral's ship, and froze in place. They were still wearing their armor, so anyone who had been keeping track of recent news would recognize them instantly. The Remnant ship settled down, and the Imperials could only stand, knowing that they had been caught. The main hatch of the ship opened, and out walked Ral, with the Imperials all instantly relaxing.

"Your friend is in the ship." Ral said, walking past them with no other words.

Tray watched Ral's back as he walked away, but then turned to the Remnant ship. He couldn't shake the feeling that something felt wrong. Normally, things seem to be peaceful around Ral, almost like everything is right in the world, but this…There was still a feeling of serenity, but there was an underlying feeling of crushing regret.

Tray shook his thoughts out and walked to the Remnant ship to see his squad was already bringing Manrica out. His eyes slightly widened on seeing how much of Manrica's body was burned. Half of his torso was covered in bandages, his entire right leg was in a cast, as well as his right arm. Whatever Torchwick did, he clearly did not hold back. _What kind of sick minded person could do something like this so…heartlessly?_ Tray thought.

 _The Empire_ a stray thought told him before he could stop himself.

Manrica's coughing brought Tray's attention back to his wounded squad mate. He saw Katlin gently grab Manrica's uninjured left hand when Manrica's breathing picked up and his eyes grew wild with panic. Tray cleared his throat and said, "Manrica! Calm down! You're safe now!"

Manrica's breathing slowed down as he took in his surroundings. He looked up at his squad mates and said, "Guys? That you?"

"Yeah. It's us." Tray replied.

Manrica leaned his head back and smiled. "You don't know how good it is to see you all again."

"I'm sure you were fine" Trio said. The squad all looked at him and he added, "Except for the 'getting burned' part, that is."

Manrica shrugged with his unburnt shoulder and said, "It wasn't _that_ bad, actually."

Katlin slightly tilted her head and said, "How so?"

Manrica cleared his throat and said, "They don't have bacta, but that doesn't mean their technology is backwards. They knew exactly how to take care of my burns, so I think we should be a little more accepting of this world's technology."

"If you say so." Katlin replied. "Come on. We still have proper medical supplies in the shuttle."

Manrica waved his good arm around in a slight panic. "N-No!"

The entire squad looked at Manrica in confusion. "Why would you not want to be treated?" Katlin asked incredulously.

"I'm allergic to bacta." Manrica stated.

"We don't have bacta. Not right now at least. We do have kolto though." Katlin replied.

"Ah…I don't know."

Katlin shrugged and said, "There are people with a bacta allergy, but there are usually no harmful side-effects from being exposed to kolto."

"Usually?…I don't want to risk being an exception."

Katlin frowned and stepped away. "Fine then. Recover naturally for all I care."

Tray gently stepped up and said, "Alright. Let's just calm down." He looked over his shoulder and said, "Soltrev, Brenver, take Manrica into the shuttle and see if someone _else_ knows how to apply kolto."

"Yes sir" the two soldiers replied, grabbing hold of either side of Manrica's wheeled-cot and rolling him into the shuttle.

Tray turned to the rest of the squad and said, "Everyone…Get some rest. I'm going to speak with Ral."

The Imperials nodded and walked in the direction they remember the guest rooms to be in as the non-combatants walked out of the shuttle. Tray separated from the group and made to follow Ral.

Tray wandered the halls until he came up to the door to Ral's room. He gently knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds before opening it and walking in. He looked around the room to see that Ral wasn't in the room. He was about to close the door and look for the Jedi elsewhere, but he saw another closed door with flickering lights underneath it.

Tray quietly walked up to the door and was about to open it until he heard the unmistakable sound of quiet mourning. He hesitated, but continued to open the door. He peeked his head around and saw Ral kneeling in front of an altar of sorts.

He stayed quiet for a little bit when he heard the sound of quiet mumbling.

"Bless us that remain, and may those who are gone rest in your embrace. May those who are gone find rest in your embrace." Ral muttered. The Jedi stood up and slowly turned around, his eyes slightly puffy.

"…So you saw that."

"I didn't know that Jedi prayed." Tray neutrally commented.

"I'm not a Jedi anymore, and it's only right that I offer what little help I can."

"So who were you praying to?"

"He's an old god of Remnant that not many worship anymore. His domain was helping the dead rest in peace."

"What happened?" Tray asked.

Ral looked back at the altar and said, "A settlement was wiped out by the Grimm."

Tray didn't say anything and motioned for Ral to continue.

"It's worse for me since I feel responsible for their deaths…I felt their fear, their panic, and their pain. No one survived. Not the men, not the women…not the children."

"Death is no respecter of persons." Tray stated.

"I suppose that is true." Ral said. He walked toward the door and said, "You wanted to speak with me, no?"

Tray followed Ral out of the small shrine-room and said, "Yes. It's about Torchwick."

"What about him?"

"Every time we've tried to make a move against him, something comes up that prevents us from doing so. I know we weren't planning anything at the time, but Manrica was heavily wounded by that man. And now we may very well have been exposed to Torchwick's men."

"Those weren't Roman's men." Ral pointed out.

"Hitmen, assassins, someone else's people—it doesn't matter. Surely, they would know what a real Remnant ship looks like. Combine that with the fact that Trio and I used our weapons to cover you, our cover is blown, and your involvement with us is probably known as well" Tray continued.

Ral sat down at his desk and Tray sat across from him. "I suppose, but there are a select few outside of Atlas who know about you already."

Tray's eyes widened and said, "What are you getting at?"

"Do you think that I would not tell someone I trust about your presence?" Ral replied.

"Well…I…"

"If you're wondering who knows, you need not worry. I have told the right people, and they were sworn into secrecy. As far as the rest of Remnant is concerned, your group is simply a top secret military division testing out experimental technology. It works quite well with Atlas' reputation of being highly advanced, actually."

Tray raised an eyebrow. "I still want to know who you've told about us."

"Just know that it is important people who are quite influential. Unfortunately, the Atlas military still sees you as a threat. Luckily for you, this isn't Atlas, so I can pull enough strings that you won't be arrested if we make a move against Torchwick."

Tray slammed a hand down on the table. "Just tell me who you've told, damn it!" he roared.

"I can't, and I won't." Ral calmly replied, leaning back and crossing his arms. He could sense the frustration in Tray and hide a small smile.

"Why the hell not?! These are _my_ men you've exposed, Ral!"

"And pray tell, what will you do if I give you their names? Hunt them down? Silence them? Threaten to bombard their planet?"

"We are _not_ the Empire anymore, Ral" Tray stated. He sighed and said, "How much did you tell them? I highly doubt they'd just believe you if you suddenly said, 'I'm from space, have space powers, and am on the run from a galactic empire that wants to eliminate my kind. Oh, and there are aliens too.'"

"I told half-truths. The best lies have a grain of truth in them after all." Ral replied.

Tray sighed in frustration and said, "Fine, if you won't tell me, then forget I asked." He turned around and left Ral's room, making sure to slam the door as he left.

Ral calmly exhaled and rested his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard gentle knocking on the door and said, "Come in, son."

Ral's son poked his head around the door and walked in. He smiled and nervously shuffled his feet. Ral couldn't help but smile at seeing his son and held out his arms. "How are you doing, Vermeil?." he asked.

Vermeil ran into Ral's arms and hugged his father. "The other kids have been doing their work while you were gone, and I did all of those combat drills you asked me to do."

Ral slowly shook his head. "I didn't ask you that. I asked how _you_ are doing."

Vermeil slightly looked down and said, "…Tired."

"That is to be expected. Your training is meant to be tiring so that in a real fight, you won't slow down from fatigue."

Vermeil frowned and said, "Dad, why am I training so young anyway? I know I want to be a Huntsman, but why start training so soon? No one else I know is training at only ten years old."

Ral's smile faded and said, "You want to fight like me, you'll have to spend years training before you can have a weapon like mine. Had I followed the training I received, you would've started _much_ earlier in life, but I wanted you to have a childhood first."

Vermeil's eyebrows knit together in confusion and said, "How old were you when you were trained to be a Huntsman?"

Ral's eyes grew distant on thinking of the Jedi Order. "…Much too young." he finally said. He offered a weak smile to Vermeil and said, "You don't have to worry, son. I'm not going to push you past your limits if you don't want me to. Your training will be rough, but it will be well worth it" he said, unable to not think about how his son was not Force-sensitive to his knowledge. _The Force is too weak for a youngling to reach out to it even if he does turn out to be Force-sensitive_ he thought. Sure, he could simply scan Vermeil's blood to see how many midichlorians his son had, but Ral would want his son to discover the Force on his own time, and not simply be told that he could use otherworldly powers, but he can't use them on Remnant. He shouldn't have that kind of knowledge.

Ral was brought out of his thoughts by his son's voice. "Dad, I have another question.

"What is it, son?"

"Those soldiers that keep showing up…They aren't really Atlas are they." Vermeil said more than asked.

Ral paused and thought, _He is not ready for the truth._ "They aren't from Atlas, true."

"They don't look like Vale's soldiers. Their armor is too white."

"That's because they are from outside of the kingdoms. They live underground, so they wear white armor to make it easier to find them should there be a cave-in." Ral lied. _Their armor does make them easier to spot_ he thought.

 _Mountain Glenn Ruins_

The leader of the hit squad sent to kill Ral braced himself for a very angry Torchwick, but he was met by a woman in a red dress instead. His eyebrows slightly raised in confusion, but on seeing the glint in the woman's eyes instantly knew that he had better be careful. There was…something about her that set him on edge. "I thought I would speak with Torchwick. It's dangerous enough that we went here, so why is he not here?" he demanded.

The woman smirked and said, "Torchwick is held up at the moment. Instead, you'll be dealing with me."

"Let me speak to your boss, or our contract is void" the man stated, knowing that this was often the reason he and his team got the results they desired from their clients.

The woman didn't react the way that most clients did, and simply said, "Torchwick is not in charge. You'd do well to remember that." She had a sultry smile on her face as she slowly walking toward the hitman.

"I assume you're the one in charge then." the man replied, unfazed by the woman's approached. _You'll have to do better than swing your hips, lady._ he thought.

"Yes. You'll be answering to me from now on until Jonquil is dead" the woman said.

"Then I suppose introductions are in order" the hitman stated.

"Queen. I don't give out my real name to someone who doesn't work for me" the woman said.

"We do work for you. You're paying us to kill someone."

"No. You're working _with_ me. There's a difference." Queen said.

"Very well. I assume you know that we didn't take out Jonquil? I would guess that's why you called us here" the man said.

Queen walked up and stood inches away from the man, putting a hand on his face. "Now, now. There's no need to admit to failure."

"I assure you that it won't happen again."

"Then tell me why you couldn't do it the first time." Queen said, her eyes seeming to glow with a murderous glare.

"Jonquil had help."

"What kind of help?"

"You know about those soldiers that attacked that Atlas base, correct?"

Queen nodded.

The man coughed and said, "We believe that those same soldiers were helping Jonquil in his escape. The news said that their weapons couldn't kill, but they got a few of my men. Pierced through their Aura like it was nothing."

Queen's eyes slightly widened, but then she smiled a wicked smile. "This is perfect. A world famous Huntsman working with terrorists? That's a reputation breaker."

"I suppose" the hitman said.

"I thank you for getting us this information…sadly, a failure is still a failure." Queen said, grabbing the man's throat and squeezing down.

The man gagged in shock and quickly felt Queen's hand warming up much faster and hotter than should be possible. _What…What are you?!_ were his last thoughts, before he felt himself set aflame. As the hitman writhed on the ground, dying, Queen walked away, brushing off a stray flake of ash from her sleeve.

 _Ral's Cliffside Home Guest Rooms._

"Agh, this sucks!" Shejas protested, crossing his arms.

"What sucks?" Tray asked.

"I hate having to wear this helmet!"

"You don't want to expose yourself do you?" Tray droned.

"Well…not really, but I _really_ want to take off this helmet!"

"Then go to the shuttle and take it off. The kids know not to board our ship, so you won't be discovered."

"I don't want to go to the shuttle!" Shejas groaned, reclining on a couch."

"Then keep your helmet on" Tray replied with a ghost of a smile.

Shejas held up one hand, displaying a universal sign with one finger.

"There are kids around, man. Watch what you say and do" Tray cheekily said, his smile growing bigger.

"You really enjoy being _that_ guy, don't you?" Shejas mumbled.

"You really like to be the complainer, don't you?" Tray jokingly replied.

Shejas sighed and sat up from the couch. He looked to the closed door and said, "Tray…can I be honest with you about something? As a friend?"

"Go ahead, Shejas."

"I don't think we should even be here. Sure, the technology isn't as backwards as we at first thought, but these people aren't ready for the galaxy…and I don't think we're ready for Remnant. What if the Grimm spread to other planets? That's a galactic crisis just _waiting_ to happen."

Tray thought over his friend's words and said, "Shejas, I'd agree with you if we weren't deserters. Had we stayed with the Empire, I'd agree with you, but sooner or later, the Empire will get its act together and search for us for our desertion. Even if it doesn't, the Rebel Alliance will surely destroy us should they find us.

"Why would they hunt down deserters? You'd think they would try to recruit an entire Star Destroyer instead" Shejas commented.

Tray was about to reply when someone knocked on the door. He looked at Shejas with a warning look before saying, "Come in." The door opened and Taddrei and Trio walked in.

Shejas scowled at Trio and said, "Great. The racist is back."

Trio sneered at Shejas, but said nothing.

Taddrei looked between the two and said, "I must have missed something."

"Not as much as we missed." Tray replied. "Manrica getting burned, getting chased by assassins, and now Katlin's shoulder is wounded. We missed all of that. As for what you guys missed…Pazaak arguments and racism."

Taddrei snorted in amusement and said, "Seriously? That's all?"

"Pretty much."

Taddrei stayed silent before speaking again. "Tray, I don't think it would be a good idea to stay here for too long. It's only a matter of time before one of those kids wandering around hears or sees something they shouldn't."

"I agree with my cousin." Trio said. "Kids are too curious for their own good. And if we told them not to board our shuttle, they would be even more curious."

"Then we should probably be leaving as soon as possible. We'll rest for a few hours, but we will need someone to watch the shuttle."

"Or we could just, you know, have someone raise the ramp to keep curious kids out." Shejas pointed out. "I'll do it since I hate having to wear this helmet anyway." he added, tapping on his helmet with his knuckles.

The three humans stared at Shejas, silently agreeing with him. Shejas stood up and rolled his shoulders. "Welp. I'm gonna close up the shuttle and probably catch forty winks." He said, leaving the room.

Tray watched the door close and then turned to Taddrei. "Was there reason you came here?" he asked.

"I figured you'd want a report…or something."

"Manrica's heavily burned, Katlin has to let her shoulder heal, and you've possibly exposed parts of our technology to criminals, _and_ you never secured any of the communications technology you were sent out to get in the first place." Tray pointedly stated, with Taddrei's head lowering with each point. "Have I missed anything else?" he asked.

"…No sir." Taddrei said in defeat. "I take full responsibility."

Tray sighed and said, "Most of that was out of your control, Taddrei. The only real failure was not securing parts for our comms." he said. "Manrica got hurt because he ran off and got into a fight he never should have. We were exposed and Katlin got hurt because people went after Ral, who ran to us. You just got caught up in the chaos. As far as I'm concerned, the mission was a failure, but there was nothing you could do to fix it. We'll just have to try again."

"Are you kidding me?!" Trio blurted. "We're down two soldiers, and you want to try again?!"

"Do you have another plan?" Tray replied.

Trio grinned a toothy smile and said, "Yeah I do. We go after Torchwick right now. Everyone of us that can fight…go and take him out."

"I don't think killing him will solve anything" Tray pointed out. "Think about it. He was thrown in jail instead of executed. Whatever he's done, I don't think the legal system could prove any…darker crimes he may have committed. Besides, we don't know how Remnant treats its criminals, so we could very well be breaking a law if we killed him."

"Then we'll just have to find out what we can and can't do." Trio said. "Besides, Ral is pretty heavily respected. If we mess up, maybe he could cover for us."

"I don't think so." Taddrei commented. "Those hitmen more than likely saw yours and Tray's armor. I know it might be a bit generous to assume this about criminals, but I can see someone eventually putting two and two together."

"Put it together about what exactly?" Trio questioned.

"That we're the same soldiers that broke into that Atlas base, and that Ral's working with us."

Taddrei's words left the three Imperials in a shocked silence. "If we're fugitives from Atlas' military, and they saw Ral working with us…they would try to discredit him in the public eye." Tray mused.

"That's assuming they figure it out. They are just criminals after all."

"If that's true…then we should go get Ral and ask for his help in capturing Torchwick" Tray said, walking for the door and opening it. "You two are coming with me." He added.

"What? Why?" Trio asked.

"Because I don't want to ask a Jedi to help us when its just me asking."

"Aww…is our leader scared of a Jedi?" Trio mocked.

"This is serious, Trio! Ral's told some natives about us!" Tray spouted.

Taddrei and Trio exchanged looks of shock. "…Who has he told?" Taddrei asked.

"He won't tell us. I already yelled at him about it, so don't bother." Tray grumbled.

Trio cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck, causing more popping sounds. "Who said I'm going to yell at him?" he growled, heading for the door.

"Trio, don't bother." Taddrei stated, stepping between his cousin and the door.

"Step. Aside." Trio growled, balling his fists.

"He's a Jedi, Trio. He can easily beat you to a pulp just by looking at you. What makes you think you could possibly interrogate him?" Taddrei said calmly.

Trio scowled, but his hands slowly relaxed. "…You're right."

Taddrei gave Trio a serious look. "Are you sure? It sounds like you're just saying that, just so I'll step away from the door."

Trio huffed in annoyance and backed away from Taddrei. "No, Taddrei, you're right. What _could_ I do to a Jedi? He'd knock me down before I could even touch him."

"He'd probably throw you out an airlock after stabbing you in the back with his lightsaber" Taddrei quipped.

"He's a Jedi; not Lord Vader." Tray pointed out.

"Is there a difference?" Trio asked.

"Ral doesn't choke people to death" Tray stated humorlessly.

Trio shrugged, nodding his head in agreement. "He _was_ pretty well known for that" he said.

"Just be glad you've never met him" Tray mumbled.

Taddrei's and Trio's eyes nearly bugged out on hearing their leader's words. "Wait…You've met _the_ Darth Vader?!" Taddrei asked.

"Not really. There was a high-ranking senator's son in my graduating class at the Imperial Academy, and he was…I think he was forced to attend the graduation."

"Vader? Forced to do something?" Trio droned.

"Obviously, I couldn't see his face, but you could _feel_ his annoyance…almost like when Ral gets mad."

"Hmm…Well, we should probably quit talking about talking to Ral and go do it." Taddrei said.

"Yeah. Let's go." Tray said, walking toward the door. The three Imperials left the room, only to see Vermeil scrambling away from the door, clearly having been eavesdropping on them.

Not seeing any point in making him play dumb or lie his way out, Tray knelt down to be at eye level with the boy and said, "How much did you hear?"

Vermeil nervously swallowed and said, "Who? Me? I-I didn't hear anything."

Tray sighed and said, "You were pressed up on our door, and it looked like had your ear facing us when the door opened. Now tell me. How. Much. Did. You. Hear?"

"I heard something about a Dark Vapor." Vermeil admitted.

Knowing the many stories behind Darth Vader, it was almost…shocking to hear a kid so flippantly say the Dark Lord of the Sith's name, even if he was apparently Dark Vapor now. Just another reminder that Remnant's people have not set foot off their world.

"Listen, kid, some things are not meant to be spoken about. This will just be our little secret, alright?" Tray offered.

"Who is he?" Vermeil asked, yet again reminding the Imperials that Remnant is not a part of the galaxy.

"He was a very bad man." Tray said simply.

Vermeil nodded, noticing the emphasis Tray had on the 'was.' He bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry for hearing what you guys were talking about."

Tray smiled and stood up, patting the boy's head. "Just don't tell anyone about this, especially your father." Vermeil opened his mouth to ask why, but Tray gave the boy a look. "I'm serious. Do _not_ ask your dad about Darth Vader." he said sternly.

Vermeil nervously nodded. He wasn't sure what was going on, but to him, it looked like this soldier was…afraid.

Tray looked at Taddrei and Trio. "Let's go." he said; and with that, they walked down the hall toward Ral's office.

 **That's a wrap for this chapter. Hope you guys have a happy Easter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Well, here's a new chapter! Hope you enjoy it! Thank you for the views, favorites, follows, and reviews!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 13: The Hunt Begins**

Tray, Taddrei, and Trio walked down the halls until they came to the door of Ral's office room. Tray sighed before holding up a hand to knock, only for Ral to open the door just before his hand touched the door. Ral leaned back from Tray's hand, while his own instinctively reached for his lightsaber. On seeing who it was, Ral lowered his hand and said, "What do you want?"

"We're ready to go after Torchwick." Tray stated.

Ral raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh?"

"We've spent too much time not doing it." Tray reasoned. "It's about time we actually did something, and we need _your_ help to do it."

Ral paused and mused over the ex-Imperial's words. "No." he said, slamming the door shut the moment the word left his lips.

Tray looked at his squad mates with an 'I told you so' look and knocked on Ral's door. "Ral! This is serious! The longer Torchwick is out of prison, the more likely he'll get innocent people killed!" he yelled at the door.

The three Imperials waited for a response, but none came; only silence. Finally, the door opened once more, and Ral stepped aside. "Come in."

The Imperials entered the room, wondering what Ral had to say.

Ral sat down at his desk and had a distant look in his eyes. He then looked at the Imperials and said, "You told him."

Tray and the others exchanged confused looks. "Told who?" Tray asked.

"You told my son about… _him_." Ral stated, with heavily restrained anger and sadness.

"What are you…oh…" Tray realized. It seemed that even with Darth Vader dead, he was still feared enough that even a Jedi avoided naming him.

"Why? Was it because of what I told you? That some people on Remnant know about you?" Ral asked, with Taddrei'a and Trio's eyes widening at that information.

"Ral, we did not tell your son about Lord Vader on purpose." Tray said, fearing that Ral will refuse to help them any longer. After all the things that Vader had done to the Jedi Order, Tray would not blame Ral for having at least some hatred toward the man, if he could even be called a man anymore.

"Of course you didn't." Ral spat. "He just happened to be walking by when you were talking about him."

"Your son was eavesdropping. He is, rightfully, curious about us. Had we known he was on the other side of the door, he would not have heard about him. We don't sense those kind of things, ya know."

"Even so, he still knows more than I ever intended on telling him." Ral replied coldly.

"Ral…please. We would never intentionally tell your son about him. He's just a child, and this world doesn't know about the galaxy. No innocent should have to know about him."

Ral sighed and said, "Just tell me how much he knows."

Tray, sensing the irony of this conversation considering what had happened less than an hour ago, said, "He asked us about him, and all we said was that he was a bad man. We also asked your son to not ask you about Vader…something he clearly did anyway."

Ral sighed and said, "…I sense your honesty, Imperial."

"Ral, we are truly sorry that your son had to hear about Vader, but all he knows is that he is a bad man. Nothing more." Tray said.

Ral slowly nodded, pushing away his memories of Vader's deeds. "Very well…So what was this about going after Torchwick?"

"We've been hounded by him for long enough. First Manrica got burned, now Katlin's been injured. If we don't do something, we'll be unable to do anything at the rate we're going. We want to help make a difference here, but we can't do that if Torchwick keeps attacking us."

"You don't know if those hitmen were sent by him." Ral pointed out.

"Torchwick probably wants you dead for putting him in jail, so it's not that hard to imagine who sent that hit squad after you." Tray replied.

"Fair enough."

"You know where he is. If we're going to make a fast, hard strike on him, we'll need your help. If any cameras or witnesses see us, they'll see those strange soldiers working with a Huntsman to attack Torchwick. Hopefully, that will help our currently bad reputation." Tray said.

"And you're asking me for my help." Ral finished.

"Yes."

Ral tapped his chin and thought and said, "I'll do it. Not for you, but for potential victims of Torchwick's actions.

"If that's how you want to think of it, fine." Tray said.

Taddrei and Trio looked at each other, wondering why they had come if it was going to be this easy to convince the Jedi.

Ral stood up, checking to see if his lightsaber was in its proper place. He headed for the door, but turned around to see that the Imperials had not moved from their spots. "What are we waiting for? We have criminal scum to arrest." he said with a smirk.

That seemed to solidify the fact that Ral was really going to help them, and the Imperials followed Ral out of the room.

Tray pulled out his comm and said, "Shejas, you there?"

The former Lieutenant heard a scrambling sound and then Shejas' voice rang out. "Uh…Yeah. Yeah I am…here, that is."

 _He just woke up,_ Tray thought. "Are you at the shuttle?" he asked.

"Yup. Is it time to go?" Shejas asked.

"Yes. Prep the shuttle for take-off."

"Roger that, boss."

Ral looked behind him and said, "It would be best if we did not take your shuttle."

"Why not? Our shuttle has already been seen by hitmen that were likely hired by Torchwick."

"I thought that you did not want to expose yourself." Ral stated.

"Well some of the natives already know, and now criminals know about us to a degree. We might as well give it our all to show that we are not to be messed with." Trio pointed out.

"I'm with Trio. Why hold ourselves back for our first official appearance?" Taddrei added, with Trio looking at him in disbelief that Taddrei agreed with him.

"…Suit yourselves." Ral relented.

As they were reaching the hangar, Tray pulled out his comm again and contacted the rest of the squad to regroup at the shuttle. When the four reached the shuttle, they found Shejas waiting for them at the top of the ramp. "She's all ready to go when you are, boss." the Zabrak said.

"Thank you, Shejas." Tray said. "We'll wait for the rest of the team, and then we'll go."

"The rest of the team? Even the non-combatants?" Taddrei asked.

"Obviously not, Taddrei." Trio droned. "Why take them for a combat mission?" he added.

"…"

"They'll be staying here, where it will be safer for them. As long as they don't have any of those kids eavesdropping on them, there should be no problems." Tray said, looking at Ral.

Ral didn't respond, and simply walked up the shuttle ramp, with Shejas stepping aside to let him in.

After a few minutes of waiting, Soltrev, Brenver, and Renbra entered the hangar. When the gap between them and the shuttle was smaller, Soltrev said, "What's going on?"

"We're going after Torchwick." Tray answered.

"Finally." Brenver mumbled.

With no more words needed, the Imperials entered the shuttle. The ramp rose up, sealing Ral and the Imperials in the shuttle.

Shejas and Tray entered the cockpit and sat in their respective seats. Shejas cracked his knuckles and said, "Alright, where to?"

"Ral knows where Torchwick is, so ask him; not me." Tray replied. He reached for the comm button and spoke into it. "Ral, would you come to the cockpit?"

Ral soon walked into the cockpit and said, "What is it?"

"Where's Torchwick?"

"Ah. That." Ral said. He pulled out his Scroll and soon a map of the city of Vale was displayed on it. "He is here." Ral said, highlighting a building.

"That's…awfully public." Shejas commented, setting a course into the nav computer.

"It is likely not his hide-out." Ral replied.

"Well than what is it?" Tray asked.

"I believe that this is a Dust shop."

"Wait…you guys _sell_ Dust?" Shejas blurted.

"Yes. It is quite portable."

"I thought it was like tibanna gas!"

Ral shook his head. "It is an energy source, yes, but it is not a gas. It can be both a solid crystal, or a fine almost liquid-like power. I'm sure there are other states, but I have not pursued this information. A lot of the knowledge behind Dust are well-kept secrets of the Schnee Dust Company."

"O…kay. Got it." Shejas said, while Tray rolled his eyes in amusement.

The shuttle lifted off the ground, and the hangar doors opened. The shuttle flew out of the hangar, the wings lowered to their flying position, and the shuttle sped toward Vale.

 _City of Vale: Swan Avenue_

Braza walked down the street where he would be meeting Torchwick's messenger. On remembering the description of 'brown and pink eyes,' he felt some frustration. _Of course I have to deal with that little psycho. Why would I_ not _have to deal with the craziest girl I've ever met?_

Braza sighed and looked up and down the street, wondering where Neo could be hiding. He tugged at the edge of his hood when he saw a police car turn onto Swan Avenue, and slightly turned his back. He pulled out his Scroll and pretended to be texting someone. _Good thing it's getting colder,_ he thought as the car passed by without incident.

Just when Braza was about to give up, thinking that Torchwick had played a joke on him, he bumped into someone who glared at him, only for them to widen in recognition. One eye was pink; the other was brown.

"Hrmm. Couldn't bother to show your true face." Braza commented, only for a disguised Neo to narrow her eyes.

"You know that I know you don't like to talk, so just hand it over." Braza said, holding out a hand.

Neo rolled her eyes and pulled out a letter, and put it in Braza's hand. Braza opened the letter, and instantly noticed the very elegant handwriting on the letter. Intrigued, he started to read it.

 _Hello, Braza. You may be wondering who's handwriting this belongs to, but you will find out soon enough. Go to the harbor at the edge of town. The one who gave you this message will know where to go from there. Don't worry, your friend Torchwick will be there as well._

 _Torchwick is not a friend,_ Braza thought, as he lowered the letter. He looked at Neo with a raised eyebrow, only for the short woman to shrug.

"Did you read this?" he asked.

Neo shook her head.

Braza looked at the time with his Scroll and said, "Do you think there's a specific time that your boss would want me to show up, or is your hide-out somewhere over there?" he asked, handing the letter to Neo. The woman read the letter and then shrugged.

"Do you not know, or do you not care?" Braza asked, with Neo nodding to both questions.

"Then what say you we hunt down a quick bounty before we head out?" he asked.

Neo smirked, her eyes flashing a murderous glint.

 _Vale CCTS_

The attention of one of the few non-AI workers still in charge of monitoring the CCTS during its day-hours, was brought to a screen that scans the kingdom's airspace. She walked over to the monitor to see that the scanner had detected an unidentified aircraft. Thinking back, she realized that this was the same aircraft that was detected a few hours ago, but it was flying away from Vale. Now it's coming back. She knew that there were no ships that looked like that. She pressed a button on the screen and attempted to contact the strange ship.

"Unidentified ship, this is the Vale CCTS tower, please identify yourself and make your way toward the the designated landing strip."

After a few seconds of silence, the response she got was just static. She looked back down at where the ship was located and saw that it was making its way past the landing strips. What was more concerning was the fact that this ship managed to get past the airspace security. On seeing where it was, she pulled out a Scroll and started a call.

" _Yes?"_ a voice asked.

"Sir, there is a strange ship headed toward the city. Any methods of contact don't seem to work, and I think it got passed the air security. I can only assume that they are either ignoring contact or their radio is busted."

"… _We'll dispatch a few squads of soldiers and local Hunters to investigate once they land."_

"Thank you, sir."

" _Carry on"_

 _Imperial Shuttle_

Shejas looked over his shoulder to see that Ral looked like he was asleep before looking at Tray and making some signs. _"Is he seriously sleeping?"_ was what Tray made the sign language out to be.

Tray shrugged and made hand signs of his own. _"He's a Jedi, so he's probably meditating or something."_

Shejas nodded and then looked back forward, with a slight smirk.

After a few minutes of near silence, Shejas and Tray both looked over their shoulders when they heard a sound coming from outside of the cockpit.

"What was that?" Shejas whispered.

"Probably the others. Who else?" Tray replied.

Sure enough, they soon saw Taddrei running by the cockpit, quickly followed by an angry sounding Trio. In the metaphorical sea of expletives, the two just barely interpreted that Taddrei had pulled some sort of prank on Trio. It sounded like it involved some kind of markings on the soldier's face, but Trio was out of sight far too quickly to see what Taddrei drew on his face.

Ral grunted in annoyance and opened one eye. "Does this happen often?"

"As far as we know, that's a first." Tray replied.

Ral closed his eye and went back to…Jedi things.

Shejas peeked at the nav-computer and said, "We're almost there. Let's hope that someone doesn't see us. We aren't exactly flying casual here."

Tray glanced at Shejas and said, "Really? You're going to use that line…again?"

Shejas tilted his head toward Tray, offering his friend quite the cheeky grin.

Tray sighed and said, "Never mind. Just make sure that you're ready to drop us off. Be ready for a quick extraction just in case." Tray stood up and started to leave the cockpit until he heard Shejas tell him to wait.

Tray turned back around to see Shejas had turned the chair around. "I want to go with you on this one."

"Shejas, we're going to need the shuttle to be ready to pick us up at any given moment. You know that."

"Don't worry. The shuttle has an autopilot." Shejas said waving his hand. The Zabrak turned around and reached into the hidden compartment under the dashboard and pulled out his modified EE-3 blaster.

"Since when has autopilot ever been reliable?" Tray droned.

Shejas tried to think of any significant examples of autopilot being reliable and said, "Good point. I still wanna go though."

"Shejas, I'm sorry, but I can't let you go with us. The risk of someone finding out about you being well…an alien is too great."

"I'll just wear my helmet. No big deal." Shejas replied.

Ral stood up and said, "Your commanding officer has ordered you to stay with the ship, pilot. I suggest you start following your orders." He looked at Tray and said, "And you. I'm surprised that an Imperial officer would tolerate such insubordination."

"I'm not like other Imperial officers, Ral. Shejas is my friend, and I treat him like one. My former rank in the military does mean I look down on those I'm in charge of."

"Deserters or not, you were put in charge of your team. Act like it." Ral said with a huff.

Tray resisted the urge to scowl at the Jedi and said, "Sorry, Shejas. But you're staying with the ship. Got that?"

Shejas glanced at Ral and then back at Tray. "…Yes sir."

Tray glanced at Ral, only to receive a look of approval. Tray huffed and left the cockpit. He made his way to the armory to see the rest of the squad was getting ready for combat. That is, except for Taddrei and Trio. Trio had his cousin in what looked like the galaxy's deadliest headlock, while the youngest member of the squad was laughing the entire time.

"What'd I miss?" Tray asked.

Trio looked at Tray and tried to explain what happened, but all Tray heard was an avalanche of profanity. Practically the only words that weren't an expletive were simply connectors to another offensive word.

"Forget I asked. Dickface, let go of your cousin; that's an order." Tray deadpanned.

Trio growled, but relented, releasing him from the headlock. Taddrei lightly coughed from too much laughter, and went to his gear, quietly giggling whenever he would look over at Trio.

Tray rolled his eyes and started to put on his combat gear. Once he finished, he grabbed an E-11 blaster and looked over at his squad, who were now fully armed and armored.

It was almost hard to tell the difference between Soltrev and Renbra due to them having no noticeable changes or decorations to their armor. Except for a few scratches, they looked like they had just received their armor out of the Academy.

Brenver had a few markings on his armor that were quite reminiscent of the markings on the Phase II armor of the now-defunct Clone Army. _Huh. Those Clone markings look so real. Never took him for a history buff,_ Tray thought.

Taddrei was easy to figure out due to his slightly bulky armor, but had Tray not know about the extra storage that the man had put into his armor, he would not have noticed.

Trio was the easiest to pick out due to his Heavy Trooper armor, and his weapons of choice.

Of course, Tray stood out the most since he was the only one who had any skin showing. Honestly, whoever was in charge of designing Imperial Officer armor did not think to make them blend in very well with Stormtroopers. Sure, if his squad mates were Imperial Soldiers and not Stormtroopers, this would not have been as big of a deal; but Tray stuck out like a sore thumb in the group. _At least Ral will stand out more than I will since he doesn't wear_ any _armor,_ he thought, trying to find some sort of relief.

"Anything we need to know about the area, sir?" Brenver asked in a way that made him sound much older than he was.

"I should probably be asking you that question since you've been to Vale, and I have not." Tray replied. "All I know is that Ral knows where Torchwick is, but he said that we may need to search the area for him."

"Wait, if Ral can sense where that scumbag is, why do we need to search the area for him?" Soltrev asked.

"I'll ask him about that." Tray replied.

"No need." rang the confident voice of the Jedi. "You are right in that I do know where Torchwick is hiding, but that does not mean that I know the way. Once we are on the ground, finding him will be much easier.

"That's comforting." Renbra muttered to Soltrev, who slowly nodded in agreement.

"Alright. Once we land, we're not coming back until we're done; so make sure you have everything you think we'll need. Any questions?" Tray said with finality.

Trio inserted an energy pack into his newly-claimed T-21 Repeating Blaster and said, "Can we go all out?"

"I don't have a problem with it. As long as we don't go shooting up civilians or law enforcement outside of self-defense, I don't care how we fight…Yeah, let's go all out." Tray said, with every one of the Stormtroopers smirking under their helmets.

"What about our fake names? Should we use them?" Soltrev asked, not looking forward to being called Quinn again.

"No. People will surely recognize our armor, and if they hear our fake names, we'll have to make entirely new ones to avoid suspicion if we go undercover again. It would probably be best to call Ral by his fake name though." Tray replied.

Shejas' voice rang out over the on-board comms. "Approaching the LZ. Rally up."

The squad looked at Tray and their leader said, "You heard the man. I want all of you to double-check your gear. Make sure _all_ of it works."

The squad nodded in compliance, and Tray saw them checking the energy packs for their blasters, while Trio checked his staff to make sure it worked just fine. Tray could almost see the grin under the man's helmet as Trio lightly zapped Taddrei's back, causing the youngest Stormtrooper to make a rather undignified yelp.

"Enough." Tray reminded the two before they started fighting again. "I have a feeling that we may end up getting separated at some point, so make sure your comms are synced." he added.

"What about me?" Ral asked. "It does not look like you have any spare helmets."

Brenver shrugged and handed Ral a wrist-comm device. "You still remember how to use these?" he asked.

Ral did not look away from Brenver as he put the wrist-comm in its proper place. "Yes." he said humorlessly.

With that being said, the group left the make-shift armory and headed for the ramp. When they felt the shuttle touching down, they readied their weapons, while Ral simply pulled out his lightsaber.

The shuttle hovered over the streets, with a lot of people looking up in awe, confusion, and a hint of fear. The shuttle's side wings raised up to be parallel with the middle one.

The ramp lowered, with Trio and Taddrei the first ones down the ramp. They quickly looked around before giving an 'all-clear' signal. Brenver and Soltrev were the next two down the ramp, followed by Tray and Renbra, then finally Ral. Ral looked at the pedestrians and said, "Hunter business. As you were."

The people on the streets seemed to recognize Ral, but more than a few uncertain glances were sent towards the ex-Imperials. As they quickly moved down the street, the shuttle lifted off the ground and flew off.

" _Yo, is this thing working?"_ Shejas' voice rang out over their comms.

Trio resisted the urge to roll his eyes pressed a finger to his helmet's comm. "Yes, Shejas. We can hear you just fine. I would prefer that you don't talk during the mission unless it's important."

Tray was honestly expecting Shejas to have some kind of smart-remark, but the Zabrak simply said, "True. True. I'll keep quiet then."

Ral held the wrist-comm up and tapped on it, causing a tapping sound to ring out to the squad. After a few taps, Soltrev looked behind him and said, "We get it. It works."

"My apologies."

Tray gathered the squad together before saying, "Alright, people. I want us to spread out, but make sure that you can see someone else at all times. If you see anything even slightly suspicious, report it right away. Taddrei, Trio, you two are taking point. Soltrev, you're with Brenver until you find a good place to set up while Brenver will be your spotter if you need one. Renbra, you're with me. Ral…You do what you do best. Mission essential communication only. Let's move out."

While there were people still on the streets, seeing men in strange armor accompanied by a well-known Huntsmen drew more than a few eyes and even some Scrolls to record what was going on.

The group teamed up and spread out, with Ral joining up with Trio and Taddrei.

As the squad turned down a street, Tray took one last look at the shuttle and saw the ramp rising back up, sealing off the inside from the rest of the world. He then looked ahead and saw that Trio and Taddrei were quite good about keeping their heads on a swivel.

"Jonquil, you still have Torchwick's location?" Tray asked.

"Yes. He is this way." Ral said, pointing down a street.

As the squad made their way through the city, Tray had to admit this to himself. Back in his Empire days, he was used to seeing people trying to ignore stormtroopers out of fear and giving them a wide space. Venomous looks were common. Here though, there was no true fear. Sure, there was always the unknown factor of fear due to them not knowing what was happening, but he could tell that people were mostly curious.

As they made their way through the streets, Ral turned into an alley. "This way. We don't want any more attention than we already have." he explained. Once the squad was out of sight of the onlookers, Ral said, "Torchwick should be a few buildings over. To avoid attention or being spotted, we will have to traverse the rooftops." Ral said.

Ral found a fire escape and jumped up, using the Force to increase his leap. He landed on the fire escape and lowered it for the Imperials to climb up. When they reached the roof of that building, they had to admit that the city of Vale looked quite beautiful. Their sightseeing done for the moment, they followed Ral across the rooftops until they ran out of roof. "What now?"

"He's in that warehouse." Ral said, pointing to toward a small harbor-like setup. Considering the distance between them and the warehouse, there was no way that they would not be seen.

"At least it's not underground. Those places are always confusing."

"Echo Base was underground, and the layout was, admittedly, well thought out." Brenver said.

"How do you know about Echo Base's layout?" Taddrei asked.

Before Brenver could answer, Ral leapt off the roof, causing the road to shatter where he landed.

"Ral!" Tray yelled, not caring that he used the Jedi's real name. "Dang it, man…Now we have to wing it." he mumbled when he saw Ral running toward the warehouse at speeds that did not look very plausible.

"So much for "easy". Renbra mumbled, exchanging a glance with Soltrev.

Seeing another fire escape, the Imperials quickly made their way off the building. The moment their boots were back on the ground, they quickly rushed the warehouse, wondering what Ral was thinking just rushing in with reckless abandon. With some apprehension, the Imperials soon found that they were met with no resistance from anyone or anything. As they reached an entrance to the warehouse, they saw a man walk out in what looked like a gangster costume more than anything. If the man did not have some sort of sunglasses covering his eyes, the Imperials surely would have seen them widen when he finally saw the Imperials. Before a single move could be made, the man stumbled back against a wall, his hand to his throat.

Ral stepped out from behind a box and walked up to the man, knocking him out in one swift move. "He's inside."

"We figured that much." Taddrei mumbled as Ral quietly opened the door that the gangster just walked out of.

They filed through the door and quickly hunkered down in the nearest cover points they could find. Tray put a hand to his helmet and whispered their orders. "Fan out and search the building. Five foot spread. If you see _anyone_ alert us."

With his orders dispatched, the squad spread out, slowly and quietly making their way through the warehouse. It was quite nerve-wracking with the towers of crates stacked on top of each other. One thing that Tray noted was that most of these shipping crates had a symbol that reminded him of a snowflake.

" _Wonder what's in these crates."_ Taddrei whispered into the comm channel.

" _If I had to guess, I'd say drugs or weapons."_ Renbra replied.

" _I thought we were keeping quiet."_ Brenver scolded.

With that, the conversation ended, and they regrouped at the other end of the warehouse. "I thought you said he was here, Jedi." Trio scoffed, looking at Ral.

"He is…and that's the strange part." Ral replied.

"Well, with the _one_ guard that we ran into, I'm inclined to think otherwise!" Trio mocked.

As Trio continued to tear into Ral for his mistake, the others took to wandering around. Renbra walked up to one of the crates with a snowflake and frowned at it. He then turned around to Trio and Ral "Trio, leave him alone. Mistakes happen…Jedi, what's in these crates? There's too many for this to be just a simple smuggling operation. Too easy to find, and not enough time to hide the evidence if a curious officer decided to investigate."

Ral looked at Brenver and walked over to the crate. "That is because this is not a smuggling operation. These crates are the property of the Schnee Dust Company. You can tell by the symbol."

"Ah. Gotcha." Brenver said, his curiosity satisfied.

Just when Tray was going to call off the mission, they heard voices coming from the opposite end of the warehouse. "Take cover!" Tray hissed.

The group spread out and hid, with the Imperials silently cursing whoever's bright idea it was to make stormtrooper armor white and black.

"I'm just saying. A warehouse is as cliché as it gets for a hideout." a noticeably male voice said.

"You've been reading too many of those stupid comic books. I think it's a great place for a hideout." a feminine voice spat.

" _I'm_ reading too many comics? As popular as the X-ray and Vav comics are, I'm surprised that anyone even _considers_ a warehouse for a hideout!"

"If it were so obvious, then why have we never been discovered?"

"I…shut up."

The source of the voices finally came into view and it showed two young people that couldn't have been older than twenty. One of them was a pale boy who had messy silvery-gray hair, and the other was a girl with much darker skin and had light, almost minty-green hair. As they walked by, Tray made a signal to subdue them as they passed.

Trio wrapped an arm around the man's neck and squeezed down, while Soltrev grabbed the woman and pressed his vibroknife to her back.

"What the?!" the two adolescents cried out. The woman was certainly more understandable. The man sounded more like he was choked.

"Not a move, scum." Trio growled to the man when he felt some resistance.

The rest of the Imperials came out, pointing their weapons at the boy and girl.

"Start talking. Where's Torchwick?" Ral said, coming out from his hiding place.

"Who?" the woman replied innocently, though she clearly recognized Ral to some degree.

"Don't play dumb, lass. Where is Roman Torchwick?" Ral asked.

"Why would we know where he is?" the woman pointed out.

Ral sighed. "So, you're going to be that way…Emerald."

"Wha—How do you know my name?!" the girl named Emerald demanded.

"I have my ways. Now I would really hate to force what we need, but if you don't tell us in three seconds, we will resort to deadly force." Ral replied.

"Why would I know where he is?!" Emerald protested.

"One."

Emerald tried to kick Soltrev, but his armor kept her from hurting him. As a result, Soltrev pressed the knife into her back a little more to remind her what was going on. "I'd tell the cops if I knew where he was! Honest!" she pleaded

"Two."

"Seriously, why are you doing this?! And who are these guys?!" She said, tilting her head toward one of the Imperials

"Three."

Ral waved a hand in front of Emerald's face and said, "You will tell us what you know."

"Like hell I will!" the girl yelled, her eyes widened when she realized she may have said the wrong thing.

Ral waved his hand once more, repeating his last statement.

"I won't!"

"You will tell us what you know." Ral repeated, waving his hand again.

"No…No, I'm not talking! You…can't make me!" Emerald said defiantly, yet she seemed hesitant now. The gray-haired boy looked at her in a mix of confusion and betrayal.

"You _will_ tell us what you know, and you will tell us _now!_ " Ral insisted, waving his hand one last time, but then he held his hand inches from Emerald's face.

Even the Imperials were getting nervous at seeing this. To hear about a Jedi mind-trick was one thing, but to actually _see_ it. The Imperial most disturbed by this was Taddrei. He had seen Ral use a mind-trick before, but the people he used it on caved in almost instantly, or with a second try. To actually see someone _resisting_ a mind-trick was a different experience.

The veins of Emerald's face were slightly bulging, and her breathing was getting shorter and shorter. Her face was sweating, and she was looking worse and worse until her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Everyone stared at Emerald as her head tipped down. After a few seconds, Soltrev looked at Taddrei and said, "You got any bonds?"

Taddrei reached into one of his hidden compartments and pulled out the requested item, and handed them to Soltrev. As the Stormtrooper was putting the bonds on, Emerald whirled around and kicked him away.

Before the other Imperials could shoot at her, Emerald rolled out of the way and freed her gray-haired partner from Trio's chokehold.

The two quickly put some distance between themselves and the Imperials, but Ral ignited his lightsaber and rushed them.

Emerald spun around and pulled out a pair of revolvers and opened at Ral, forcing him to stop and block the bullets. The moment the projectiles contacted the lightsaber blade, they either split into pieces or instantly melted and harmlessly fell to the ground.

"I'll handle them! Cover me if anyone else shows up!" Ral yelled as he leapt impossibly far toward the two adolescents.

The Imperials exchanged glances before looking to Tray for orders. "Set to stun for now. We could see if they know anything useful."

In a mix of acceptance or reluctance, the squad did so and quickly ran over to support Ral.

Emerald kept firing at Ral, but the Jedi kept advancing toward them. Finally, the gray-haired boy scowled at him and jumped up, rearing back his legs as he descended on Ral. Ral swung his lightsaber to cut off the foolish boy's legs; but to his shock, Ral's lightsaber was knocked to the side and he was hit directly in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

Ral quickly rolled out of the way of the gray-haired boy's second attack, and took note of the cracks left in the floor from the boy's stomp where the Jedi's head used to be. Ral reached out to the Force and sent the boy flying into a nearby crate.

The Imperials watched the boy sail through the air, but quickly focused on Emerald to see something they had never seen before. Emerald's weapons shifted and at the end, they were no longer revolvers. Somehow, her weapons had changed into two long knives. In the blink of an eye, Emerald rushed Ral and started to hack away at the Jedi, who expertly deflected or blocked every swing. After a short exchange of blows, Ral jumped away and deactivated his lightsaber. He reached out to one of the crates with the Force and lifted it over his head, sending it flying toward Emerald, who had no choice but to run.

Ral stepped closer to the Imperials. "Think they ran off?" Taddrei asked, keeping his eyes on his surroundings.

"Maybe. Keep your blasters on stun, and make sure you're with someone else at all times." Tray ordered as they searched the warehouse for the two.

The group split into pairs as they searched the warehouse. Eventually, Taddrei and Trio rounded a corner and saw someone shivering between two crates. Trio raised his blaster, but Taddrei quickly put his hand on top of it and lowered Trio's weapon. "Taddrei, what are you doing?!" Trio hissed.

"Calm down, Trio. That's not the person we're looking for. Look at her."

The figure turned around to reveal a little girl. Now that she was facing them, they could tell that she was scared. "The fight must've startled her." Taddrei whispered.

He shouldered his blaster and carefully approached the girl. "Hey, it's alright. We're not here to hurt you." he said gently.

Trio frowned under his helmet. _Why is this little girl here? Why would she be hiding here in the middle of the day? Where are her parents?_ he thought as Taddrei slowly reached out a hand toward the girl.

Trio's eyes were drawn to a faint movement just behind where the girl was crouched down, and he raised his blaster to fire at whatever just moved.

Taddrei jolted at the sudden sound and would have turned around to yell at his cousin, but saw Emerald just…appear…behind the girl- her weapons about to stab into him. He scrambled away just when Emerald swung her weapons and started to back away. "I think we found her!" he yelled.

"Ya think?" Trio yelled as he shouldered his heavy blaster and pulled out his electro staff.

Emerald smirked at Trio's weapon. "Aw. A little staff. How cute."

Trio said nothing, but simply waited for Emerald to make a move.

"Strong, silent type, eh?" Emerald taunted, taking a step forward. "Well, guess what, hero? Being quiet doesn't make you cool." she added.

Trio growled and swung his staff at Emerald, only for her to block it with one of her strange pistol knives. Trio instantly swung at her with the other end, but she used her other weapon to block that hit. They went back and forth, with neither gaining nor losing ground against each other.

Taddrei kept trying to fire at Emerald, but she seemed to be at least aware of him and managed to keep Trio between them.

"Not bad for a soldier." Emerald said as she swung a knife at Trio's leg.

"tch…Not bad for a green slimeball." Trio spat back. Now that he had a feel for Emerald's fighting style, he stepped back and pressed a small button near the middle of his weapon. Both sides of the staff crackled with a purple glow, and he spun the staff in a complete circle once; the buzzing sound filling the air.

Emerald's eyes widened at the glow and jumped away from Trio's next attack, but the heavy trooper continued his assault and held the staff from one end and thrust forward. At the peak of the stab motion, he pressed another button and the current of electricity sparked out from the staff and hit Emerald, sending who knows how much voltage through her body.

To Trio's shock, Emerald did not go down as he anticipated. Sure she was clearly hurt, but she kept retreating from him.

Soon, Ral turned the corner and held out his hand, almost freezing Emerald in mid-air.

With a look of shock at being held in the air, Emerald glared at Ral and yelled, "Now would be a good time, Mercury!"

The grey-haired boy from earlier came down from above and landed right behind Ral, kicking at the bend of the Jedi's knee.

"Agh!"

Ral spun around, letting go of his focus on Emerald to attack the boy named Mercury.

Emerald awkwardly landed on the ground, but before she could help Mercury against Ral, Taddrei fired a stun blast at her, knocking her to the ground, unconscious.

With one threat down, Trio and Taddrei made their way toward Ral to assist him, but the Jedi seemed to be holding his own quite well. That is, until Mercury leapt away from Ral, as some kind of projectile burst out from his boots. The first projectile was deflected effortlessly, while the second one seemed to make Ral struggle a little bit.

Wanting to get the fight over with, Trio charged at Mercury and rammed his staff into his back, sending more volts of electricity than Emerald received.

Mercury cried out in pain, but kicked out toward Trio, knocking the staff away from him. Trio was about to try retrieving his weapon, but Mercury was not going to let him and kicked Trio square in the chest, sending the heavy trooper sliding along the ground.

Before he could get back up, Mercury jumped up and landed on Trio, knocking the air out of him. He then started to stomp all along Trio, putting small dents in his armor. Seeing this, Taddrei raised his blaster to fire, but Trio quickly got back up.

"That does it!" Trio roared, charged at Mercury and tackled him to the ground. Before the gray-haired boy could fight back, Trio grabbed both of his arms and held them behind his back. "One more move…and you can say goodbye to your arms." Trio growled, pulled back on Mercury's arm, causing him to let out a pained groan.

Taddrei lowered his blaster and sighed in relief. He turned around to see Emerald standing in front of him, a scowl on her face. "What the?!" were the only words that came out of Taddrei's mouth before Emerald's weapons slashed into his armor, making an X-shaped scrape. What alarmed Taddrei was the fact that he felt the blades cut into his skin.

"Taddrei!" Trio yelled, forgetting about Mercury and charging toward Emerald, enraged that his cousin's armor was cut. Stormtrooper armor was no joke, so for _anyone_ to cut into it was more than a show of strength.

Tray and Brenver came up on the fight and looked at each other. "They're too dangerous, Tray. We should forget about stunning them." Brenver muttered.

"Agreed. Take them down." Tray said, raising the power setting of his blaster as Brenver did the same.

They raised their weapons and fired at Emerald and Mercury, forcing the two attackers to run out of sight, with Ral chasing after them.

They ran over to Taddrei and Trio, but stopped when they saw the heavy trooper crouched over his cousin. When they got closer, they saw a lot of red coating the stormtrooper's armor.

"Taddrei! Taddrei!" Trio whimpered.

Taddrei weakly raised up a a hand to Trio and coughed. "It's not that bad. The armor kept it from getting worse."

Brenver gently knelt down and said, "Let me have a look at you, kid. I'm no medic, but I know a thing or two."

Trio reluctantly stood out of the way to give Brenver some space and walked over to his staff and picked it up. "If you two are still out there, I am coming for you!" Trio roared.

At that time, Shejas' voice rang over the comms. _"Uh…Tray? Is this a bad time?"_ he asked.

Tray put a finger to the side of his helmet and said, "Go ahead, Shejas. What's going on?"

" _Uh…yeah…About that…I'm kind of grounded."_

"Explain. Now." Tray ordered.

" _Ow!"_ Shejas protested after the sound of something hitting the mic boomed through the comms, making all of the Imperials jolt in place.

"Shejas…What is going on?" Tray asked lowly.

" _Uh, long story short, the shuttle got grounded, and there are now some cops coming by!"_ Shejas said, with his voice getting much faster as he neared the end.

"Shejas!" Tray shouted into the comms, making some of the stormtroopers jolt once again. There was no response from Shejas, but he could faintly make out the sounds of a struggle of some kind.

"…Forget Torchwick. We're leaving."

" _What?!"_ Renbra asked incredulously over the comms. _"Why?!"_

"Taddrei's down, and you heard Shejas. The shuttle's been grounded. We're going to un-ground it."

" _If you say so, sir."_

Brenver stood up and said, "Taddrei'll live. His armor took the brunt of the attack, but it broke through and cut into his chest a little. He'll be good to go if we get him to the shuttle soon."

Tray checked the power setting on his blaster and said, "If what Shejas said was true, the shuttle's been impounded by local law enforcement. We have no choice but to take it back by force."

Trio growled and raised the power setting on his heavy blaster to the max. "Nothing's going to keep us from our shuttle." He then pulled out the energy pack and inserted a different one that had some orange markings on it.

Taddrei slowly stood up, clutching at his chest. He carefully walked over to Tray, his head bowed. "Sorry this happened, sir. I should've been ready for that."

Tray gently put a hand on Taddrei's shoulder and said, "It was not your fault you got hurt, Taddrei. How were you supposed to know that she wouldn't be stunned for long?"

"I…"

Tray held up a hand to silence Taddrei. "Don't. Apologies for something out of your control is not what I need from my men." He then put a finger to his helmet and said, "Soltrev, Renbra, regroup where we came into this blasted warehouse. Taddrei's down, so we're pulling out."

Taddrei winced and said, "ah…What about Ral?"

The sound of a lightsaber swinging through the air filled the comms. _"I will be fine. You Imperials go get your shuttle back."_

"Guess that answers that question, Taddrei." Trio said.

"Let's move." Tray ordered.

They made their way to the same door they entered the warehouse through and saw Soltrev and Renbra waiting for them. If they were not wearing their helmets, they likely could have seen the pair's eyes widen on seeing the gashes in Taddrei's armor.

"Don't ask. Let's go." Tray said, opening the door and raising his blaster.

The moment the door opened, Tray was greeted with the sight of something that he was not going to like. The attention of the Imperials was brought to the man closest to them. Roman Torchwick stood closest to the Imperials, with a shorter woman standing just behind him. To the side stood Mercury, Emerald, and a bald man standing around an unconscious Ral. The bald man seemed to very much enjoy seeing Ral on the ground.

"Oh? Ah, so you're those guys who broke me out of jail." Torchwick said nonchalantly, ignoring the raised weapons of the Imperials. "And here I thought you were the bad guys, but you're working for a Hunter."

Tray and the other stormtroopers silently held their blasters, aiming at different targets.

"So rude. You could at least give me your names before pointing those…guns?" Torchwick said, unsure what to call the Imperials' weapons.

After a few more seconds of silence, Torchwick sighed. "Fine…" He looked at the short woman next to him and said, "Neo, I think you've found some new friends. Why don't you…entertain them?"

The woman named Neo smirked and slowly walked toward the Imperials, with them backing up. After seeing a girl with gun-knives, and boy who's legs were _not_ cut off by a lightsaber, they were quite apprehensive of what Neo's weapon was. Seemingly out of nowhere, an umbrella appeared in Neo's hand, and Trio growled. He flipped a switch and the barrel of his T-21 crackled with an orange glow. The moment Neo took note of this, Trio fired a bolt at her, forcing her to dodge. The bolt landed just behind her, and exploded, knocking her off balance and making her botch her landing. Trio quickly jumped toward her, shouldering his weapon and pulling out his staff as he did. Neo tried to roll out of the way, but Trio slammed his staff down on her back, sending currents of electricity through her.

"Know how to fight people like us, eh?" Torchwick huffed, raising his cane. "So do we." he said, firing at Trio. The explosive hit Trio head on, resulting in a much bigger explosion than that of his T-21's explosive bolt.

Tray and the others quickly spread out, firing at the criminals.

Torchwick looked over to the bald man who was with Emerald and Mercury and yelled, "Well, Braza, time to earn your money!"

The bald man smiled wickedly and rushed at the stormtroopers, brandishing a machete.

"Look out!" Soltrev yelled, pushing Brenver away from Braza's weapon and pulling out his vibroknife. "Come on, big guy…" he taunted.

Taddrei took cover with Tray inside of a shipping crate. Tray locked one end of the crate and aimed his blaster at the open end of the crate. Taddrei sat down with his back against the locked door and held his blaster toward the entrance as well. Tray saw Brenver and Renbra were with each other and put a finger to his helmet comm. "Brenver, Renbra, go see if you can pull Ral out of the way. He's not going to do us any good unconscious."

" _Got it, sir."_ Brenver replied.

The two made their way toward Ral, but Emerald and Mercury saw them. "Do you really think we're going to let you have Jonquil so easily? We lucked out of that fight, and we're not going to give him up so easily." Mercury taunted when the stormtroopers raised their blasters and fired. Emerald and Mercury jumped out of the way of the blaster bolts and charged at the two.

The smoke from Roman's explosive cleared from Trio, but the man seemed no worse for wear. If anything, he looked a little more intimidating with his armor mostly scorched black. "Too bad I was wearing this, eh?" Trio taunted, rolling his neck. "If Manrica was wearing his armor, you would not have burned him so easily."

"Who?" Torchwick asked, but Trio roared and charged the white-clad gangster, thrashing at him with his staff.

"Let's see how _you_ like getting burned!" Trio yelled, turning up the voltage of his staff.

"Wait…that guy who spied on me was one of _you_ guys?" Torchwick asked between blocking Trio's powerful swings.

Trio said nothing, only swinging his staff again. Torchwick blocked it and took a step back to fire at Trio with another explosive, but Trio's reflexes kicked in. Trio swiped the cane to the side with his staff and rammed his right knee into Torchwick's gut, causing him to keel over. Trio and swept a leg into Torchwick's feet, making him fall to his back, followed by a savage kick to his neck.

Torchwick leapt to his feet and bashed Trio across the head with his cane. "That hurts, you son of a—!" Before he could finish, Trio jumped toward Torchwick, kicking both feet out toward the man, before catching his own fall.

"You're going to answer for what you've done!" Trio yelled, standing up and tackling the dazed Torchwick to the ground. Without letting him get back up, Trio grabbed Roman's shirt and yanked him up before shoving him back down to the ground, causing the back of the man's head to smash into the concrete. Had he been in a better frame of mind, Trio would have noticed that Torchwick had yet to bleed, or have any sort of sign of being hit for that matter. He chalked it up to the man's Aura, but it was still disconcerting to see no signs of damage.

Trio crouched over Torchwick and put his staff away. He pulled back a fist and slammed it into Roman's face. Then another. Then another. Before he could hit Torchwick a fourth time, he felt something crash into him. After getting back up, he looked at the offender and saw…himself? "What the hell?" he murmured. He quickly reached for his staff, but grasped at air. He looked at, well, at himself to see that his copy was holding his staff. With a low growl, Trio took a stance and prepared to fight…himself.

Concurrently, Soltrev and Braza circled each other, sizing each other up. Soltrev knew that he was at a disadvantage since he had just a knife, and Braza had a much longer blade. There was also the strange mechanism along the spine of Braza's machete that made him hesitate to get too close.

Braza then made his move and ran at Soltrev, lashing out with his machete. Soltrev hopped just out of Braza's reach before ducking down and running in to stab Braza in the chest. The bald man grabbed Soltrev's wrist with his free hand and twisted it, causing the Stormtrooper to cry out in pain. "Do you realize how many soldiers of your ilk I've killed?" Braza said with a low, gravelly voice.

Soltrev switched his vibroknife to his left hand and said nothing. He put his right hand behind his back, taking on an almost duelist-like pose were it not for the short length of his knife.

"Oh? I didn't know Atlas trained their soldiers to be duelists." Braza taunted.

"I'm not an Atlas soldier." Soltrev said, which made Braza look at him in confusion. Taking advantage of the slight lapse in the man's attention, Soltrev rushed in and slashed Braza with his knife, the fire mods heating up.

Braza growled as the knife hit him, but Soltrev quickly backed away when the knife did not cut. He took a second look when he saw that Braza's clothes got cut and burned, but there was no cut in the man's skin. Jumping away, Soltrev put his knife away and tried to aim his blaster at Braza with his left hand, but had a hard time aiming left-handed, so opted to retreat from the man. Braza smirked and ran after Soltrev. "You'll tire out eventually, prey!"

Soltrev ran, keeping his distance from Braza until he heard a strange sound. It almost sounded like Braza had cocked a gun, but he had not seen one on the bald man. Without stopping, Soltrev spared a glance behind him to see that Braza's machete looked a little different. He saw Braza point the weapon at him, and it _fired_ at him. A bullet sped from a gun built into the spine of Braza's weapon and it collided with Soltrev's back, only for it to leave a small dent in his armor.

While Braza scowled at the result of his gunshot, he flicked his machete to the side, and Soltrev saw how the weapon worked. The blade was shortened to allow easier aiming, while the spine of the blade was revealed to have the barrel of a gun built into it, but it could somehow detach a little bit to show the barrel.

Ignoring his curiosity about the weapon, Soltrev kept running until he saw Tray taking a pot shot at Braza. He ran over to Tray and said, "That guy's no joke in close quarters. We should keep our distance from him."

"Why haven't you blasted him yet?" Tray droned as he fired at Braza, forcing the man to hide behind another crate.

"He almost broke my wrist." Soltrev said. As he spoke, the adrenaline of the fight began to fade and he felt the pain of his twisted hand. He dropped his blaster and clutched at his hand. "Gah…Damn, that hurts!" he hissed through his teeth.

Tray looked around to see if Braza was coming for them, but did not see the bald man. "He knows where we are, so we'll have to move."

Taddrei reached up to the lock of the door at the other end of the shipping crate and unlocked it. As the door opened, they saw someone standing on the other end of the door. Braza rushed in and tried to stab his weapon into Taddrei, but the injured stormtrooper blasted him at point-blank range with a higher power setting than what should've been used. The blaster bolt hit Braza square in the chest and knocked him back from the pure force of the bolt's shot. Taddrei quickly adjusted the power setting to make the next shot explode and fired again. The explosive bolt hit a dazed-Braza and sent him flying out of the crate, with the man rolling along the ground a few feet.

"Close the door!" Tray yelled, with Taddrei being more than happy to comply.

"Did you see that?!" Taddrei exclaimed as if he could not believe what he saw.

"Enough about that. Let's go." Tray said, holding out a hand to help Taddrei get back on his feet. The young stormtrooper took Tray's hand and lifted himself to his feet.

The three quickly left the crate and saw that Braza was still in a daze. Tray aimed his blaster to fire, but Braza suddenly rolled out of the way.

"Crap…" Tray muttered when Braza stood up and glared at them.

Braza lunged at them, but Taddrei and Tray once more fired at him, while Soltrev lunged at him with his knife at the same time. Braza spun around Soltrev and swept at his feet, knocking the stormtrooper onto his back. Soltrev barely rolled out of the reach of Braza's machete-gun before he stumbled back onto his feet.

Tray and Taddrei backed away from Braza, firing at him, but the bolts did not seem to do much even though a good number of their shots clearly hit the man.

Braza chuckled darkly. "Heh heh heh…You fools _do_ realize I have an Aura, right?" he asked arrogantly.

Tray didn't respond and whispered to Taddrei, "You have any thermal detonators?"

Taddrei smirked under his helmet. "Even better." He fired at Braza as he backed away, and then opened one of the hidden compartments in his armor, pulling out something that was definitely not a detonator.

Tray's eyes widened on seeing the weapon. "Imploders?! Here?! Are you mad, man?!" he exclaimed.

"Maybe." Taddrei replied as he primed the thermal imploder, throwing it at Braza seconds later, before Tray could stop him.

Braza took notice of the rapidly beeping device that landed at his feet and jumped out of what he thought to be the blast radius. The imploder beeped even faster for a moment before a bright light burst from the grenade, only to disappear an instant later. The sheer force of the implosion caused a very loud, deep sound. Braza was caught at the very edge of the implosion and was sent flying back with such force that his Aura was crippled by his impact with a crate, knocking him unconscious.

Soltrev aimed his blaster to finish off the bounty hunter, but Tray said, "Forget him!" The stormtrooper hesitated and lowered his blaster, only for Taddrei to raise it and shoot Braza three times.

The two looked at Taddrei in surprise, but the young soldier shrugged. "What? I used one of my only two imploders on one guy. He had better be dead." After getting a longer stare from Tray and Soltrev he sighed. "What?"

Tray shook his head and said, "You two are hurt…Get out of here. Get to the shuttle if you can. I'll help Brenver and Renbra get Ral back."

Taddrei nodded an affirmative while Soltrev simply turned around to flee the scene.

Brenver and Renbra, knew they were in for a tough fight. If Emerald and Mercury could go toe to toe with Ral, they knew that they would need to be very careful.

Mercury and Emerald confidently walked toward the two, but quickly jumped to the sides when they fired their weapons. Emerald landed on the ground and instantly leapt toward Renbra, her weapons changing to their knife-like forms. Renbra quickly held up his blaster and caught the knives with it, bringing up his knee into Emerald's gut. Renbra quickly followed up with a fully-body shove, pushing Emerald away from him as he put some distance between them.

Seeing that Emerald chose her opponent, Mercury sighed and walked toward Brenver. "Nice armor you got there, bud. Mind if I take it?" he taunted.

"It wouldn't fit a punk like you." Brenver replied.

A hint of a scowl showed on Mercury's face, but he kicked at Brenver, who leaned just shy of his leg. Brenver quickly grabbed Mercury's leg and yanked at it, causing Mercury to fall to the ground.

"Amateur." Brenver taunted as Mercury pushed himself back up.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that one, old man." Mercury spat, quickly rushing under Brenver's guard, ramming his knee into the stormtrooper's chest.

Brenver certainly felt the impact; but he shoved Mercury away from him, firing his blaster and chipping away at the younger man's Aura.

Mercury looked at Brenver's armor and his eyes widened a little bit. "What the…But…I hit you as hard as I could!" he thought in shock.

Brenver chuckled under his breath and said, "Trade secret," before running toward Mercury and tackling him. Before Mercury could react, Brenver flipped his blaster around and rammed the stock into Mercury's face repeatedly before the man finally pushed the Imperial deserter off of him.

"Not cool, man!" Mercury complained, rubbing at his face.

"No rules in a fight." Brenver commented sagely.

Renbra never really thought of an E-11 as a shield against a teenage girl swinging knife-guns at him; yet there he was, doing exactly that.

Emerald's confident smirk slowly grew into an annoyed sneer as she continued to fail landing any hits on the stormtrooper. "Stop blocking!" she yelled.

Renbra didn't say anything, opting to swing a left hook at her just when her knives hit his blaster for the umpteenth time. Emerald pressed her weapons against the E-11, hoping to try overpowering the stormtrooper, only for the man to smirk under his helmet. Renbra spun to the side, knocking Emerald off balance as he kicked at her head as she fell to the ground. His foot connected with Emerald's head, the sudden impact knocking her weapons out of her hands, and Renbra pulled out a second blaster, a DL-44 pistol. He pressed it to Emerald's head and was about to fire, but he saw that his blaster was warped, deformed. It almost looked like it was turning toward him. He quickly dropped the pistol and backed away from it. "What. The. Hell?"

Emerald used this opportunity to grab the dropped pistol and held it up. Renbra looked at Emerald and yelled, "Ha! That's not going to work!" His eyes widened when he saw his own gun reform back to its original shape, almost like nothing had ever happened to it.

"Don't trust everything you see, soldier-boy." Emerald taunted as she took aim, only to frown when she didn't see any iron sights on the blaster. "What kind of gun is this?! No sights?!"

"Don't need 'em." Renbra replied, swinging his E-11 at her like a small club.

Scowling at the stormtrooper, Emerald dashed toward one of her own weapons and picked it up, quickly bringing it up to block Renbra's make-shift club. As Renbra used his blaster in a way it certainly was not mean to be used, he absently noted that this blaster would likely not work properly without some serious work.

The two pairs continued with their respective fights until they heard a loud, deep explosion. The heads of the four combatants whipped in the direction of the sound. Emerald and Mercury exchanged looks and jumped away from the two Imperials. "That'll bring too much attention. Let's get out of here." Emerald said to Mercury, who was all to happy to comply. The two spun around and ran, quickly vanishing from sight.

The pair of Trios went at it, with the real one trying to get his staff back from the fake one. "You're going to regret taking that from me!" he roared, only for the fake to not reply. What infuriated Trio the most was that his fake was not going on the offensive, nor was his opponent being defensive—just annoyingly evasive. Whoever was pretending to be him would just barely dodge every one of his punches and kicks with minimal movements. He was almost certain that this fake had a huge smirk under that helmet, which only angered him more. Finally getting fed up with this, Trio lunged forward, ramming full-bodily into his faker, bringing both of them to the ground. The fake Trio tried to roll away from him, but Trio kept the faker pinned to the ground and attempted to take his staff back, only to be met with resistance.

Trio growled at the fake and yanked back on his staff, almost getting it out of the faker's grasp, but he did not fully manage to get it back. In the blink of an eye, Trio found himself on his back while the fake-Trio straddled him and treated him to a barrage of punches to the head, the impacts jarring his head with each hit.

Just when Trio was about to try knocking his assailant off, a loud, deep sounding explosion enveloped his hearing. That sound was certainly something that he was more than familiar with. He was also certain he knew who would deploy a thermal imploder. His fake looked in the direction of the explosion, which Trio took advantage of and rolled to the side, knocking his faker off of him and wrenching his staff back into his hands before raising it over his head and smashing one end of it into the fake Trio.

To his surprise, the armor didn't get pierced, dented, or anything. Instead, the armor cracked and shattered almost like glass, revealing the short woman with brown and pink eyes. The next thing Trio noticed was that his staff did not pierce her body like he was expecting. It was this moment that he realized that this whole 'Aura' deal was going to piss him off more than once by the time he left this planet.

The woman, who had somehow made some kind of glass illusion of Trio's armor, quickly stood up and bowed, raising her head to reveal a cocky smile. Trio took a stance and prepared to continue the fight, but Torchwick's voice rang out. "That…boom will bring the cops running this way. We need to get out of here." Roman raised his cane at Trio before remembering that the explosives didn't work last time. "Well, soldier-boy, it's been fun, but we really must be on our way." he said, firing a useless explosive at Trio, only for the man to dodge it and rush the criminal.

The woman whirled around to be in front of Trio and jumped up, viciously kicking his head and send him falling to the ground. Trio tried to get back up, but the woman planted her foot on his chest and leaned down over him.

"Neo! Enough! We need to get out of here before cops or Hunters show up!" Torchwick scolded.

Neo didn't look away from Trio, her cocky smirk not fading in the slightest.

"Neo!" Roman yelled.

Neo slightly released the pressure she was putting on Trio's chest. Before straightening back up, she leaned even further toward Trio's face and winked at him with her brown eye before jumping off of him, not letting the heavy trooper get in an attack as she retreated.

Trio stood up and tried to rush Torchwick and Neo, but the moment his staff hit Torchwick, the two fell apart in much the same way as the fake armor that Neo had over herself.

The fake image of Torchwick and Neo shattered against Trio's staff. "Blast…" he muttered as he looked around for any sign of the two. He saw Tray and made his way to him. "Where'd those scumbags go?" he asked as he approached his leader.

"Not important. We need to grab Ral, and get out of here." Tray replied, heading toward Brenver and Renbra."

"Wait a minute, Lieutenant. Where's Taddrei and Soltrev?" Trio asked. If Taddrei was killed by those criminal scum, not even the Emperor himself could keep him from brutally slaughtering the ones responsible.

"They're heading for the shuttle. Hopefully, Shejas managed to escape with it by the time they need to be picked up." Tray replied.

As the two reached Brenver and Renbra, they were lifting Ral up and holding the unconscious Jedi between them. "Where to, Lieutenant?" Brenver asked.

"Anywhere but here." Tray replied as he looked in the direction of a distant sound. It was rather high-pitched, but it did not sound good for them if the sound got closer. It almost sounded similar to the sound of law enforcement on most Imperial-controlled worlds.

With Ral secured, the four began to flee the scene of the fight, only for the distant sound to be not-so-distant. A few vehicles with bright lights flashing on the roofs pulled up and a few figures emerged from the vehicles. Men wearing armor similar to that of the the Atlas soldiers they saw at the base stepped toward the Imperials cautiously. "You there! Have you four seen what happened?" one of the soldiers yelled to the Imperials, assuming they were fellow Atlas soldiers and not seeing the unconscious Ral between Renbra and Brenver.

Tray hesitated before whispering, to Renbra and Brenver, "Get Ral out of here. Trio, go with them. I will stall them as long as I can."

"If you're sure about it." Renbra replied. As the Atlas soldiers approached, Tray gestured to his remaining squad mates to leave, which they were more than happy to do.

The Atlas soldiers approaching Tray looked at him curiously. They couldn't quite recall any armor like his, but figured that he and his squad may be Specialists in the military, who were known for having rather unorthodox uniforms. The men saluted Tray and one of them said, "Sir, did you see what happened here?"

Deciding to keep his military poise from the Empire, Tray took a pose that many Imperials officers have taken over the years. Feet close together, his head slightly tilted up with his hands folded behind his back. "As you were. There were some criminals here and we tried to apprehend them. Sadly, they escaped, and a civilian was injured during the fight."

"A civilian? Where is he?" the soldier asked.

Tray relaxed and put a hand on the shoulder of the soldier. "It's being handled, soldier. This area is cleared. Inform dispatch that the situation here is resolved." he lied.

"Yes, sir." the soldier replied, pressing a finger to his helmet and saying, "Dispatch, the situation is being taken care of. Some Specialists were on the scene and they say that they have the situation under control."

After a few seconds, a voice crackled in the man's helmet and then the man looked to Tray. "Our dispatcher would like to talk to you."

Tray froze for an instant before saying, "Sorry, our situation is fluid and time is essential. Tell dispatch that we failed to arrest Roman Torchwick and associates of his. Mention that Huntsman Jonquil Saffron assisted us in our attempt to arrest them." With that said, Tray turned around and walked purposefully away from the confused Atlas soldiers.

 _That was too close,_ he thought nervously as he turned around a crate and lost sight of the actual Atlas soldiers.

After taking a few steps, he broke into a sprint to catch with Trio, Brenver, and Renbra.

Trio turned around when he heard rapid footsteps approaching them, but relaxed when he saw that it was Tray. "I thought you were going to stall them." he stated.

"I did. They thought we were special forces or something, so I got them off our backs for now. We should probably pick up the pace before they discovered I lied." Tray replied, walking ahead of the group.

"You sound worried." Brenver commented.

"Maybe I am. Now get moving." Tray barked.

The group tried their best to avoid walking onto the main streets to avoid too much attention as they made their way to the shuttle. Tray put a finger to his helmet and said, "Taddrei, Soltrev, is the shuttle secure?"

After a few seconds of silence, Tray repeated his question. "Taddrei, Soltrev, is the shuttle secure?"

" _Taddrei and Soltrev are unavailable."_ a feminine voice answered.

 _Is that…Winter?!_ Tray thought in shock. "Who are you?" he demanded, unsure if it was who he thought it was.

 _"Who I am is not important. Just know that we have your shuttle under custody. Either you can surrender to the Atlas military peacefully, or we_ will _use force. You have five minutes to surrender on this channel."_ the voice said coldly.

 _Sure sounds like her,_ Tray thought as he clenched his teeth and cut off the comm line. "Guess we're stranded unless we turn ourselves in." he said to his squad.

Trio shrugged and hefted his heavy blaster. "We'll just have to un-strand ourselves."

"Trio, think about this for a second. The shuttle's been taken, Shejas is probably captured, and Taddrei—your cousin—and Soltrev are definitely captured by Atlas." Brenver reasoned. "We won't be able to just blast our way out. We're down two hands, and the Jedi being unconscious won't be helping things at all if we get into another fight before he comes to."

Before Trio could argue, Tray shook his head. "Brenver's right. We have no choice but to turn ourselves in."

"You have _got_ to kidding!" Trio yelled.

"I'm not kidding, Trio. We're going to surrender to Atlas' military peacefully."

"Emperor's black heart, man! Listen to yourself!" Trio spat. "We may be deserters, but we're still Imperial soldiers! We _don't_ surrender like those Rebel cowards would!"

"If it will spare my men, I'll do it." Tray said. "You can put up a fight if you want, but I will not fight alongside you if you do." he added.

"I'm not either. The Lieutenant's right on this one." Renbra chipped in.

Trio narrowed his eyes from under his helmet, but he sighed. "Fine…" he murmured as he shouldered his T-21 blaster.

"I know you'd rather fight, but at this time, we shouldn't take such an unnecessary risk." Tray said with finality. He turned his comm back on and said, "Alright, Winter. We surrender."

"… _I'm glad you saw it my way."_ Winter replied after a few seconds

"Just tell me where my men are being held." Tray said with an icy edge that surprised even Trio.

" _They are with your…shuttle, as they call it."_

Tray slowly ground his teeth together when he heard Shejas' voice over the comm. _"Ow! Those horns are real, thank you very much!"_

The deserters all froze on hearing Shejas mention his horns. They exchanged glances with one thought in mind. The secret was out, and there was little chance of explaining Shejas' appearance in a believable way.

"Welp…" Brenver grunted. "We're screwed."

 **Hey you guys. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! See y'all in the next update!**


	14. Chapter 14

Page 12 of 12

 **Okie-dokie, new chapter, hope ya** **'** **ll enjoy! Thank you for the views, follows, favorites, and reviews!**

 **I don** **'** **t own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth**

 **Chapter 14: Dimming of Embers**

To say that Tray felt trapped was an understatement. He didn't want to surrender anymore than the rest of his squad did, but he knew that it may very well be what would keep their shuttle intact, and Shejas off a dissection table. His shoulders slightly slumped as he, Trio, Renbra, and Brenver saw their shuttle. The fact that there was a large number of Atlas soldiers surrounding the area did not help. Down both ends of the street were soldiers, keeping prying eyes from getting too close. All around the shuttle were crates, that were supposed to be in the shuttle, spread almost haphazardly around their ship. Atlas soldiers walked all around the shuttle, with some of the military personnel lab coats. Tray couldn't help but admit that Atlas worked pretty fast if they were already studying the shuttle, but quickly reminded himself that Atlas was _studying their shuttle_.

Renbra and Brenver carefully set Ral down, feeling relieved that they didn't have to carry the unconscious Jedi for the moment.

"Well, Lieutenant, how are we getting out this?" Trio asked angrily.

"We probably won't be getting out of this." Tray replied, slightly annoyed at their predicament.

"…Just know I'm going to kill you if we get out of this alive, sir." Trio threatened with an even tone.

"I'm sure you will," Tray droned. He stopped looking at the scene around the shuttle and turned to his remaining squad mates. "I will go to them first. If they kill me, take Ral and run. If not…I'm not sure after that."

"You're assuming you won't survive this." Brenver stated.

"To be honest, yes." Tray said. He grabbed his E-11 and held it out to Trio. He took off his helmet and removed his combat armor, leaving him in just the black jumpsuit. "I won't be needing this." Tray said as Trio took the blaster and strapped it onto his backpack. After completely removing his equipment, Tray emerged from the alley-way.

As Tray walked away from them, Trio looked to Brenver and Renbra and said, "What do we do now? They'll come looking for us in the direction the Lieutenant came from."

Brenver looked around and tilted his head to a fire escape. He climbed on top of a nearby dumpster and leaped toward the fire escape, pulling himself up. He looked at what he thought would be the ladder, but was confused for a bit. He realized that he needed to pull a latch before the ladder would lower. "There we go. Just hand him up to me." he said, lying down on his stomach and holding out his hands. Trio and Brenver lifted Ral up and held him up in the air, letting Brenver grab onto the Jedi and pull him up. Trio and Renbra climbed up the ladder and Renbra leaned down to help Brenver lift Ral once more.

"I got him." Trio said. Renbra nodded and began to ascend up the fire escape, while Brenver pulled the ladder back up to keep anyone from following. Trio bent down and effortlessly lifted Ral up, holding him over his shoulders in a fireman's-carry.

As they quietly and carefully made their way up the fire escape, Renbra said, "Ya know...I'm pretty sure that people are supposed to go down these things. Not up."

"Stairs are stairs. Doesn't matter which way people wanted us to go." Trio replied, making sure that he didn't accidentally smash Ral against the wall, as tempting as the idea was.

When they reached the roof of the building, they ducked down to avoid being seen from the ground and Brenver said, "I'll keep watch over what's going on. You two make sure no one comes onto the roof." He crawled over to the edge of the roof, pulling out a pair of electrobinoculars to keep a closer eye on Tray.

As Tray walked toward the shuttle, one of the Atlas soldiers took notice and held up a hand in a way that clearly told Tray to stop. Sir! "This is a restricted area! Move along!" he warned, clearly not recognizing Tray as one of the Imperials. Then again, he wasn't wearing his armor, wearing only the boots and a black jumpsuit. Still, from what he had seen of the civilians on the way to the warehouse, jumpsuits didn't seem to be very big on Remnant. Tray ignored the man and continued to walk toward the shuttle. Annoyed at being ignored so flippantly, the man stepped in front of Tray, blocking him. "Sir, this is a restricted area. Turn around and leave."

Tray looked at the soldier and said, "That's my ship."

The soldier finally realized who Tray was and jumped away from him, raising his weapon. A few more soldiers saw the commotion and joined in, raising their weapons at Tray.

"Lower your weapons!" a voice yelled crossly before anything rash happened.

Tray looked for the source of the voice and saw Winter Schnee walking toward them. Walking behind her were…droids?

From the rooftop, Brenver's jaw dropped open. "Guys, you might want to check this out." he said into the comm.

Trio and Renbra carefully crawled up on either side of Brenver. "What is it?" Trio asked.

Brenver held out his electrobinoculars to Renbra. "You should probably see for yourself. Look over to the Atlas personnel in front of Tray and then hand the binocs to Trio."

Renbra took the binoculars and peered through them. He had to look for a bit before he found Tray, but his jaw also dropped when he saw what Renbra was talking about. "Are those droids?!" he whispered in pure shock. Sure, the ships on Remnant weren't that bad, but most other races didn't have war droids until after they discovered space-travel.

"Really? Gimme that!" Trio hissed, snatching the binoculars from Renbra and looking at Tray through them, in spite of Renbra's protests. "Holy...I think they are." Trio replied, almost speechless. If this planet had droids, then their chances of repairing the comm-array significantly improved.

Back on the ground, Winter stopped in front of the Tray and stared at him, slowly narrowing her eyes. "So…the leader of the 'Bucketheads'."

Tray blinked at the nickname in confusion, and said, "Pardon?" It seemed that even on a world that knew nothing of the galaxy at large, the ever-popular nickname the Rebellion used for the Empire's soldiers was being used. He couldn't help but wonder if stormtrooper helmets really did look like buckets, but he set that thought aside for later.

Winter looked to the droids behind her, gave a small gesture with her head, and they moved toward Tray, "Hand over your weapons." it said in a deep, monotonously robotic voice.

Tray stared at the droid for a second. "I have no weapons on me." he insisted.

"Search him." Winter ordered.

Tray knew the procedure and held out his arms. The droid simply stared at Tray and then it said, "Scan complete. No known weapon materials present. Error: Unknown materials detected. Warning: Foreign contaminant detected."

 _Contaminant_ _?!_ Winter thought in alarm, quickly taking a few steps away from Tray.

"Don't worry. I'm not sick, contaminated, or armed in any way. You have my word." Tray said reassuringly, keeping his arms held out as the droid continued to scan him.

Winter frowned and chose to stay where she was. "Would you rather be called something else?" she challenged, changing the subject as the droid put a pair of handcuffs on Tray's wrists.

"Yes, actually." Tray answered honestly, unsure if Winter would actually call them something else.

"Very well. What is the name of your little group?" Winter asked, though it was clear she didn't truly care.

Tray paused for a moment before saying, "Imperials." If only Winter knew that they weren't exactly a 'little group.'

Winter raised an eyebrow at the rather odd choice. It almost sounded like Tray was implying they were part of a kingdom of some sort, but she had never heard the word 'Imperials' be used to describe any of the four kingdoms. She would definitely have to look into this later.

The droid stepped away from Tray and walked over to Winter. "Scan complete. No harmful bacteria or viruses detected. The foreign contaminant seems to be the unknown material of the clothing."

Reassured that it was safe, Winter took a step the now disarmed Imperial Officer. She stared at Tray's face for an uncomfortable amount of time for the man. Tray opened his mouth to ask what she was doing, but she interrupted him. "Are you human?"

Confused by the sudden question, Tray couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean?"

"Are you a Human or a Faunus?" Winter repeated, annoyed that such a basic question needed to be repeated.

"We're all Humans." Tray stated.

"Then explain him." Winter said, gesturing to the side to point out a handcuffed Shejas.

"That…may take a while." Tray said honestly. What would he tell Winter? What could he tell her? That he is an alien from space? Then again, considering the Zabrak's appearance, it wouldn't be too big a stretch to say that.

"No. You will tell us exactly who you are right now, or we _will_ execute you for your crimes against Atlas." Winter threatened.

In spite of her claims, Tray doubted that she could get away with killing people without a trial. "What crimes?" Tray asked somewhat angrily.

"You know what you did. Don't play dumb with me." Winter said dangerously.

"Oh really? All I know is that my men and I were trying to get to Atlas for supplies. We had no idea we were trespassing on military grounds. We were given no warning and your soldiers surrounded us, giving us no option to turn around and leave peacefully. For all intents and purposes, you arrested us without cause." Tray said accusingly, his anger growing more apparent. In the back of his mind, however, he knew that the Empire had no problems doing exactly that, especially if there was a suspect connection between the Rebel Alliance and the person being arrested.

"You and your men were armed and armored with strange equipment no one has ever seen before. We were not about to take any risks." Winter spat back. It was true. In the light of this rather suddenly-formed task force, Winter was allowed access to information on a lot of different secret projects that Atlas was working on, only to find that there was nothing close to the equipment possessed by the Imperials.

"You gave my squad no warning. Do you even know who we are?" Tray asked, knowing that he was about to sound like a lunatic.

Winter raised an amused brow. "Enlighten me."

Tray held a dramatic pause while also trying to figure out how he should word the ramblings of a mad man. "...Ah, what's the point? You wouldn't believe me." he said, stalling for a few more seconds to gather his thoughts.

"Try me." Winter stated, willing to humor Tray. Let me guess, he's Ozpin's long-lost nephew. Maybe he's even the illegitimate son of General Ironwood, she thought sardonically.

"I am an officer of the Imperial military. My men and I were sent to survey these kingdoms in the light of an alliance of rebels that assassinated our top leaders and we need more Dust to put down these rebels before they cause more damage to our people…a mission that your kingdom is interfering with." Tray said, wondering what Winter's response would be. He knew that he was sounding quite insane. He could almost imagine Trio, Brenver, and Renbra laughing if they could have heard him. He was tempted to see if he could send them some sort of signal, but he did not want to risk giving away their hiding place.

To her credit, Winter maintained her composure in the face of such an outlandish story. Unsure what to say, Winter sighed. "…Go on."

"Everything else is classified, I'm afraid. All you need to know is that the Empire has no qualms with crushing your pitiful kingdoms for interfering with our mission." As Tray spoke, he knew that the Empire would hardly bother with Remnant due to its relative isolation, and the fact that it has no beneficial planets in the system as far as he knew. Sure, Remnant seemed to be able to do impressive things with Dust but he was unsure of the extent that it could work off planet. As he spoke, he felt a measure of disgust with himself. He never liked the prideful, arrogant vibes that a typical Imperial officer had. To him, it felt wrong to be filling out the stereotype that officers often had, even if it was to someone who knew nothing of the Empire.

Winter looked at Tray skeptically. "And how would this 'Empire' crush us?"

"Wave after wave of TIE Fighters and Bombers, combined with a nonstop bombardment from Star Destroyers. After that, you would be subjected to an all-out ground assault from AT-ATs and AT-STs, along with an army of Imperial Stormtroopers." Tray bragged, feeling a hint of regret at talking so casually about the Empire's brutal tactics. More than once, he had seen holo-vids of the many uprisings and rebellions that the Empire had put down, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.

Finally, Winter shook her head and looked over her shoulder to the odd-looking droids. "Get this fool out of my sight." she ordered.

As the droids escorted Tray over to Shejas, Winter felt her Scroll vibrate. She pulled it out of a pocket and looked at who was contacting her. She saw that the caller ID belonged to an Atlas sergeant, and accepted the call. "Yes?"

"Miss Schnee, we just had a squad report an encounter with the Bucketheads."

"I'm well aware of that, Sergeant. Their leader surrendered, but keep on the lookout for the remainder of the squad. We have captured four of them so far."

"Ma'am, they also reported that the Bucketheads are allegedly working with a Huntsman named Jonquil Saffron to arrest Roman Torchwick and some of his associates." the sergeant replied.

"This squad…talked to them?" Winter asked, not sure if she heard the sergeant right.

"They thought they were Specialists, and it seems that the Bucketheads' leader managed to play it off and told them that they had tried to arrest Torchwick with the help of the Huntsman. Personally, sir, I think they made up a name."

"No. Jonquil is a real person, and he is indeed a Huntsman." Winter corrected the sergeant. What doesn't make sense is why a man like him would be working with the likes of them, she thought, somewhat perturbed by the implication that Ral could be working with criminals. Considering the man's reputation, something just wasn't adding up.

An Atlesian Knight, a 130-Model, approached Winter and spoke in the deep, robotic voice that they were known for. "Specialist Schnee, one of the captives is waking up." it said.

Winter acknowledged the robot and said, "Bring him to me."

The robot walked away and brought a helmet-less and disarmed Taddrei a moment later. Taddrei winced from the AK-130's almost vice-like grip on one of his arms. Winter took note of this and said, "He's already cuffed. Let go of him." she ordered. The robot did as ordered and walked away.

Taddrei was tempted to roll his shoulder to emphasize the grip the droid had on him, but he decided against it now that Winter's gaze was on him. Winter stared at Taddrei for a few seconds before realization washed over her. "You…you were at that concert with Jonquil."

Taddrei felt his stomach drop a bit. "Yeah. Yeah I was, now that you mention it." he said, somewhat surprised that Winter remembered him.

Winter was silent for a few moments. "You seemed reasonable enough back then. Perhaps you could offer a more…acceptable story for your group?" she asked. "Your commanding officer does not seem to be very stable at the moment."

Taddrei, unsure what the woman meant by that, hesitated before speaking up. "What do you mean?"

"Frankly, mister Koa, your leader's reasoning seemed sound at first until he started to talk about this…Empire."

"Actually, my name is Taddrei." the stormtrooper replied, shocked that she also remembered his fake name as well.

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She couldn't for the life of her figure out what color Taddrei's real name alluded to.

"It was a fake name that Jonquil helped us come up with since our real names don't exactly…well, blend in."

"I see." Winter muttered. She honestly didn't have very high hopes for some of the Bucketheads, but it seemed that Taddrei was willing to cooperate, unlike Tray. Sure, he was a grunt, so he wouldn't know as much as Tray would, but Winter figured that it was better than nothing.

"Tell me, is there really an Empire that you serve?" Winter asked.

"Well, kind of. We deserted after our top leaders were killed." Taddrei offered hesitantly.

Already an inconsistency. Tray said they are on a mission, and this one says that they are deserters. Winter thought in disappointment.

"Who killed your leaders?" Winter asked. At least that detail was right in both stories.

"There aren't a whole lot of details about it. All I know is that they were killed by rebels."

Winter looked at Taddrei in doubt. "Your commanding officer…Tray was it?" she asked, with Taddrei nodding in affirmation. "He mentioned the military strength of your so-called Empire. Tell me, what would it do if they were to attack us?" she asked curiously.

"I wouldn't know a whole lot about the tactics involved since I'm just a soldier, but it would pretty much be swarming the enemy with as many soldiers, ships, and vehicles as possible."

Close enough, Winter thought. Satisfied for the moment, she looked over to Shejas and said, "Now, about that...thing. What is he?"

Taddrei's eyes widened when he saw Shejas struggling against his cuffs. In the back of his mind, he thought that they must be some pretty strong cuffs if a Zabrak couldn't break them. "Why don't you ask him?"

Winter looked over to Shejas for a second before looking back at Taddrei and noticing the state his armor was in. "You're injured," she stated. She pulled out her Scroll and punched in a number. A few seconds later, she put the Scroll to her ear and said, "Yes, one of the Bucketheads is injured, and he needs medical attention…Yes…I don't care what you bring, even if it is that new stuff the eggheads came up with." She put the Scroll back where it belonged and turned to Taddrei, "Don't worry. You'll get treatment for your wounds. Tell me, what happened?"

"We were trying to capture Roman Torchwick." Taddrei answered.

"And…?" Winter pressed, curious about what happened.

Taddrei hesitated for a second, but he said, "We failed."

Winter nodded. She had a feeling that Taddrei wasn't used to saying that until recently. "How did that go?" she asked.

Taddrei looked down at his chest and said, "I think you can see how it went."

"Yes. Medical help is coming soon." Winter said.

Taddrei glanced over to the shuttle and said, "Why not just use our stuff? There are medical supplies in the shuttle."

"I doubt that. We searched your ship, and there was nothing in there that we could use for medical help."

Taddrei frowned and said, "You didn't happen to see any capsules of bright blue liquid did you?"

Winter was silent for a moment before she decided to withhold that information. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Great. First the leader is crazy, and it sounds like the grunts don't know much of anything. Typical… she thought. She frowned in thought, but she looked up when she heard the sounds of sirens and realized that the noise belonged to the military ambulances. She never did like the sound of sirens.

When the ambulances stopped nearby, military EMTs walked out and approached her. One of them, presumably the head medic, saluted and said, "What's the situation ma'am?"

"That man is injured. I want you to make sure he is taken care of." Winter ordered. She knew that while the Bucketheads had shown themselves to be less than friendly, she knew that they could be powerful potential allies, especially if they tried to take on Torchwick by themselves. From what little she had seen of them, they weren't trained to fight like Hunters, but they could hold their own regardless. Most other soldiers couldn't quite say that.

"Yes, ma'am." the EMT said, walking over to Taddrei and looking over him. The man stood up and typed a few things into a Scroll. "Multiple lacs to the chest. Stable. Yeah. Got it." he mumbled as he walked back to the ambulance. A few more EMTs walked over to Taddrei with a cot, ready to transport the stormtrooper when given permission to move him. After deciding that it was safe to move him, Taddrei was carefully, and quickly lifted onto the cot and rolled over to the ambulance and departed moments later.

"Oh no…" Brenver whispered from on top of the roof.

"What is it?" Trio asked, daring to crawl up next to Brenver.

"They're taking Taddrei." Brenver replied

"Like hell they are!" Trio growled, grabbing his T-21 and taking aim. Before he could pull the trigger, Brenver slammed his hand on the barrel, forcing Trio to aim down.

"What's wrong with you?!" Brenver hissed. "You'll give us away!"

"I don't care! Not with my cousin on the line!" Trio growled, trying to wrench the barrel of his blaster out of Brenver's hand.

"Think, for once, man! Taddrei's hurt and that looks like a hospital vehicle!" Brenver reasoned.

"This isn't the Empire, Brenver. Or have you forgotten that already?" Trio spat back.

A voice spoke up from behind them, interrupting their argument before it could escalate. "He's right. Those are ambulances. Taddrei will be going to a hospital, likely one under the eyes of Atlas, considering the reputation you Imperials have."

Brenver and Trio looked behind them to see that Ral had finally regained consciousness.

"Well, look who woke up." Trio said flatly.

Ral walked over to Trio and Brenver and knelt down. "What did I miss while I was out? I assume that you failed to subdue Torchwick?"

"You missed out on us failing to subdue Torchwick, as well as Soltrev, Taddrei, Shejas, and the shuttle being captured. Oh, and Tray surrendered himself, thinking that Atlas would just kill him." Trio said sarcastically.

"Duly noted." Ral droned. He stood up and sighed. "Wait here. I will do my best to get you idiots out of this mess of yours." With that said, Ral stuck a foot over the edge of the roof and hopped off, landing down on the streets below.

"Show off…" Trio mumbled.

Ral approached the shuttle. An Atlesian Knight detected him and walked toward him. "Warning: turn back, citizen. This is a restricted area." it droned.

I always hated the 130's, Ral thought to himself. He pulled out his Scroll and held it out to the AK-130. The combat mech scanned the Scroll and stepped aside. "Scan complete: subject identified. Please proceed, Mister Saffron."

"Thank you." Ral said, clearly not meaning it. He walked passed the AK-130 and approached Winter. "Miss Schnee. What a coincidence." he said casually.

Winter turned around and her eyes widened. "Mister Saffron? What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"Oh. A bit of this and a bit of that. Stopped an assassination attempt on your sister, saved someone in the hospital from being silenced by Torchwick, and now I'm saving these Imperials." Ral said nonchalantly.

Winter barely narrowed her eyes, but she narrowed them nonetheless. "How would you know who these people are?" she asked, hoping her suspicions were false.

"You can relax, Miss Schnee. I am not here to fight, for you have done nothing wrong. As a matter of fact, I was assisting these people in trying to arrest Roman Torchwick." Ral stated.

"So their story is true? They aren't criminals?"

Ral nodded. "Indeed it is. The methods they use may be...questionable, but they deserted. They are not like their former comrades, I assure you" he said, sensing a handful of the many questions Winter had on her mind. Before she could ask him more questions, Ral held up his hands to stop her. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but they will have to wait. We should get their shuttle off the streets so that people can go about their business here."

Winter nodded and made a motion to the soldiers and AK-130's. "We're moving out. Grab everything and let's move out of here."

"You will need a pilot for their ship." Ral pointed out.

Winter rolled her eyes. "I know that." She waved over a soldier, who obediently came over. "Lieutenant, you were a pilot before transferring to the army, right?" she asked.

The soldier nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am. I got tired of flying, but if you need me to pilot something, I can do it."

"Good. See what you can do about this ship." Winter ordered, gesturing to the Lambda shuttle.

"On it, ma'am." the soldier replied, saluting and then heading into the shuttle.

Ral looked at the man entering the Lambda before he turned back to face Winter. "He's not going to be able to pilot that." he said.

"And you would know this...how?" Winter asked doubtfully. "Atlas has the finest pilots in the world. Even former pilots or transferees are still excellent pilots." she added pridefully.

"One." Ral said, suppressing a smirk.

"I'm sorry?"

"Two."

"Mister Saffron, what are you doing?"

"Three."

The soldier came back down from the ramp and approached Winter. "I...have no idea how this ship works. Only thing I gathered is that the fuel isn't Dust."

"What?!" Winter exclaimed in surprise, unsure of what to be more surprised by: the fact that an Atlas pilot couldn't fly a ship or the fact that the Lambda shuttle apparently didn't use Dust as fuel. "How is that possible?" she blurted.

"Which? The fact that your former pilot can't fly something or the fact that this shuttle is Dust-free?" Ral said with a smirk. He couldn't blame her for being surprised at either. Atlas pilots were known for being really good at what they do, but this was not a Remnant ship by any means. On the other hand, a vehicle that didn't use Dust was completely unheard of on Remnant. He lazily glanced over to Shejas and said, "I might know someone who would know how to fly this ship though.

Winter followed Ral's gaze and her eyes narrowed at the Zabrak. "No. I am not going to risk him flying the ship away." she said firmly.

"Just post your own soldiers on the ship. Better yet, you board the shuttle and help keep an eye on your 'prisoners.'" Ral stated simply. He subtly looked in the direction of the un-captured stormtroopers and nodded at them every so slightly. He focused back on Winter and said, "If it will make you feel better, I will stay with the Imperials as well. I've worked with them, so if you are going to arrest them," He paused, holding out his hands with his wrists touching each other. "Then you will have to arrest me as well."

"Mister Saffron, don't be ridiculous. Unlike these Imperials, you haven't attacked a military base...or were you unaware that they did that?" Winter said challengingly.

"I pointed them in Atlas' direction. Had I know that you had a new base built between where I pointed them and Atlas, I would have told them to come from a different direction."

"Even so, you were not responsible for their crimes against Atlas. They were, even if you were tricked into helping them." Winter insisted.

"Very well. I am guilty by association." Ral said with finality.

"I...I'm not going to arrest you, Mister Saffron. Even if you were guilty by association, you clearly had no idea who these people are." Winter said with a huff.

Ral lowered his arms and stared at her. "I know more about them than you think, Winter." he said lowly. Memories of Operation Knightfall and the Jedi Purges that followed come to the forefront of his thoughts—thoughts that he quickly buried.

Winter sighed and said, "Fine. What would you do?"

"I would let that man fly the shuttle with his squad on-board. After that, you had best tell General Ironwood to speak with Ozpin about this. He can confirm what I have to tell him."

Winter looked at Ral in confusion. She did not like being kept in the dark about this. Reluctantly, she waved over an AK-130 and said, "Go over to that…man, and release him. Tell him to prepare his shuttle for takeoff, but only when Mister Saffron tells him to."

The mech walked over to Shejas and released him, relaying what Winter told it to. The Zabrak stood up and looked at Ral for a second until the Jedi nodded at him. "Go on, Shejas. It will be alright." he said reassuringly. With that being said, Shejas reluctantly entered the shuttle, wary of getting too close to the soldiers and what he could've sworn were droids as he went.

Ral pulled out his comm unit to speak into it. "Brenver, Renbra…Trio, it is safe for you three to come out now."

Winter raised an eyebrow at the name, but then her eyes widened in realization. She looked around, and saw a group of soldiers surrounding three men in white armor "Is that…"

"The rest of their squad? Yes." Ral replied as Winter ordered the Atlas soldiers to stand down and let the three stormtroopers pass.

 **Alright, that's a wrap. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A long time ago in a country home far, far away…**

 **The young, aspiring writer of a fan fiction crossover has been fighting a bitter battle against the bane of creativity: writer's block.**

 **Over the course of long, unproductive weeks, the writer struggled in the losing war, but he finally managed to eke out one final, decisive victory.**

 **Now he has returned to give you, the reader, the next chapter of this story. He hopes that you enjoy, and now we shall proceed with our lives without the shadow writer's block.**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 15: Building Bridges**

"I have a bad feeling about this." Trio mumbled into his comm as he, Brenver, and Renbra passed by numerous Atlas soldiers and AK-130s.

"We know, Trio...you've said that five times now." Renbra muttered back.

"Doesn't make it any less true."

"Shut up. Both of you." Brenver whispered harshly as the three neared Winter and Ral.

"What do you want, Ra—Jonquil?" Brenver asked calmly, berating himself for his slip up on Ral's name.

Winter noticed Brenver's slip of the tongue, but chalked it up to their helmets muffling their voices. "There should be two more of you. Where are they?" she demanded.

"They're wounded and not presently in Vale." Ral explained.

"I see." Winter replied, knowing all too well how it feels to have fewer squad mates because of wounds.

"Why did you call us out, Jonquil?" Trio asked, not caring about the conversation.

"Because it is safe for you now, Imperial. I have a credible source who can vouch for what I have to tell Miss Schnee and her superiors due to its admitted absurdity." Ral answered. He gestured to the Lambda shuttle and said, "Now, if you be so kind as to temporarily surrender your weapons and board your shuttle. There will be Atlas soldiers as well as Miss Schnee and myself to ensure there will be no...issues with flying to our next destination."

The three troopers looked at the shuttle for a second before looking back at Ral.

"Ha! Yeah right." Trio scoffed.

"Trio, you're not helping. Do us all a favor and shut up for once." Brenver scolded, only for Trio to hold up a single finger whose insulting meaning needs no translation.

"Just get in the shuttle, you dolts." Winter said in exasperation. She waved some soldiers over and said, "Pack everything back into the shuttle. We're leaving."

The soldiers promptly saluted and quickly went to take everything back into the shuttle. Once all of the crates were returned to the shuttle, a few soldiers escorted Tray and Soltrev onto the shuttle; while a second group took Brenver, Trio, and Renbra. Winter took one last look around the shuttle to determine that everything was put back. Satisfied that it was so, she headed to the ramp, only for Ral to stand in front of her.

"Mister Saffron? What are you doing?"

"To alleviate your…skepticism, we will be making a quick detour if the shuttle has the fuel for it, which I believe it does. Just a heads up." Ral answered before stepping aside. "Ladies first."

Winter slightly rolled her eyes, but she walked up the ramp.

Ral, already familiar with the layout of the shuttle, led Winter to the cockpit. As they passed by the armory area, the rest of the Imperials sat on the floor, disarmed and cuffed with Atlas soldiers watching over them. When they reached the pilot's seat, Winter could now see why one of her own pilots couldn't figure out how to fly this thing. There were buttons and switches spread out across the dashboard. In the pilot's seat was a very nervous Shejas, but he seemed to relax a bit when he saw Ral.

"Shejas, go ahead and take off." Ral said.

"I'm gonna need a co-pilot, ya know." the Zabrak pointed out.

"Alright. Wait here." Ral said as he stepped out of the cockpit, leaving Shejas and Winter alone.

"It's not like I can go anywhere with what's her face staring a hole into my skull." Shejas mumbled loud enough for Winter to hear him.

"What's her face? Really?" Winter deadpanned.

"Would you prefer I call you Ice Queen?" Shejas replied cheekily. He saw Winter give him a dangerous looks and he quickly went to explain himself. "I mean come on! Your name's Winter, your hair is white as snow, and you're honestly kind of cold-hearted from what little time we've known each other."

Winter kept her glare on Shejas until Ral walked back into the room with Tray just behind him.

"Why is he here?" Winter asked, uncomfortable with the lack of control she had on what was going on.

"Tray is the only other person here who could be a co-pilot, Miss Schnee. If this is going to be a problem, I suggest you step out of this cockpit."

Winter huffed and sat down in one of the chairs. She crossed her arms and legs as she 'patiently' waited for the shuttle to lift off.

Wordlessly, Tray sat in the co-pilot's chair and he and Shejas went to work on getting the shuttle ready to fly.

A few moments later, the shuttle hovered off of the ground. Once it began to hover above the buildings, the outer wings folded down, and the shuttle flew away from Vale. Winter looked outside of the cockpit and she couldn't believe how quickly the shuttle was moving. From what she knew, only Atlas' much smaller fighter jets could hope to keep up with the shuttle. She mentally shuddered at the very thought of how fast the Imperials fighters could fly.

"Where exactly are we going?" she finally asked.

Ral said nothing to Winter but instead leaned over Shejas shoulder. "Pull up the navi-computer."

"Uh, sure."

Winter held back a surprised look when a holographic display appeared, showing a surprisingly accurate depiction of Remnant. Ral simply pointed to a certain spot on the display. Had Winter been at a better angle, she would have seen that Ral wasn't pointing at any place on Remnant.

"You sure, Ral?" Shejas said, instantly realizing his slip of the tongue.

Before Winter could jump on them and ask who Ral was, the Jedi said, "Yes, Shejas. Take us there. I can't see her believing you until we show her."

"Alright. If you say so." Shejas replied. Ral nodded and left the cockpit, with Shejas looking over his shoulder to make sure he was gone. "Je'tii…I swear..." he mumbled under his breath.

"So...is Ral a name for Mister Saffron?" Winter asked, that slip of Shejas' tongue bothering her more than it should.

Not answering the Atlas Specialist, Shejas pulled up on the controls, making the shuttle start to fly high up.

"What are you doing?!" Winter exclaimed.

"Leaving the atmosphere. What does it look like I'm doing?" Shejas replied calmly.

"Dust doesn't work in a vacuum, you idiot!" Winter blurted, quickly trying to stop Shejas from getting them killed.

Without warning, Shejas rammed the back of his head into Winter's face. While her Aura did take the actual damage, she could still feel the force behind the blow. She was knocked back in her chair, but she quickly got up, only to see Tray aiming Shejas' blaster at her. "We know what we're doing, Winter. We assure you that this shuttle will work in space." Tray warned, ignoring Winter's question of where he got the blaster.

Not liking the situation one bit, Winter glared at the two, but stayed still while the blaster was pointed at her. "One of my men will come by sooner or later." she said confidently.

"Nah. Ral knocked them out when he brought me up here." Tray said. It was a complete lie, but he was not going to risk Winter making things worse by calling for help.

Winter nervously watched as the shuttle clearly went higher and higher.

"Breaching atmosphere in thirty seconds." Shejas said, deciding to poke some fun at Winter's expense.

"Twenty seconds." Tray said when the appropriate time passed, catching onto Shejas' joke.

Winter nervously clutched at the back of her seat. _It has to be a joke. It has to be a joke. It has to be a joke!_ she thought over and over again until Shejas' voice broke her out of her mental mantra.

"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One."

As Shejas counted down, the cockpit got noticeable warmer, a clear sign of starting to leave the atmosphere. "We're going to die! Can't you see that?!" Winter yelled at the two.

One last jolt, and the shuttle began to cool down and the shaking of the ship ceased.

"And. We. Are. Good." Shejas said with finality, kicking back his feet.

"How is this...man part of your military?" Winter asked in exasperation.

"Hey! I resent that!" Shejas retorted indignantly. "I ain't human!"

"...I noticed." Winter droned.

"Look. Winter. I'm sure that all of this is mostly just a misunderstanding. To show you that this is real, how about a quick trip to your moon and then right back to Remnant. Sound good?" Tray said, breaking the conversation away from any further insults. He knew that Winter wouldn't know any offensive terms to say about Shejas, but he didn't want to risk having that kind of argument right now.

"A 'quick trip to the moon'?! Dust doesn't work in a vacuum, you fools!" Winter protested.

"Good thing we don't use Dust then." Tray said as bluntly as he could.

That definitely got Winter's attention. "D-Don't use Dust? What?!"

"You'll see. We aren't aimlessly floating around in space, so that should be a good indicator." Tray said confidently. He looked over to Shejas and said, "Show her, Shejas. Let's turn to the left a bit."

"Yup."

The shuttle slowly but surely turned, revealing the shattered moon of Remnant. Winter stared in silence. Completely shocked at how close the celestial body was "I…How?"

"Quite the handy thing, tibanna gas." Shejas said nonchalantly.

"Tibanna gas?"

"Trust me, you've never heard of it. As far as we know, there's none on Remnant. That might be because Tibanna gas is usually found on gaseous planets like Bespin, but that's besides the point. Point is, there is so much more out there than you could possibly imagine." Shejas replied.

Winter could only blankly stare at the moon. Her eyes widened when she realized that she may very well have been the very first person on Remnant to ever see the moon this close up. "I…wow."

"Yeah. Imagine how we felt when we first left our own homeworlds." Shejas said cheekily.

"Other homeworlds?"

"Yeah. Coruscant, Corulag, Iridonia—my homeworld—and a ton of other planets. We're still finding new worlds every now and then, and your home is no exception, Win—Miss Schnee." Shejas said.

Winter kept staring at the shattered moon in silence. "Amazing…" she eventually whispered.

"Yeah. Not gonna lie. Your world's moon is pretty uh, different. How do you think it happened in the first place?" Tray replied.

"No one knows. It's always been a mystery." Winter answered.

Ral stepped into the cockpit and smiled on seeing Winter's bewildered expression. "It's even more amazing up close, wouldn't you say, Miss Schnee? I remember approaching your world for the first time, and being quite enamored with your shattered moon." he asked.

"You knew about this? This whole time, you knew there was a whole other civilization out there…and you didn't tell anyone?" Winter asked in a mix of confusion and anger.

"Well, I did tell a select few people; just no one in Atlas. I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times. I've no allegiance to any of the kingdoms, but the closest kingdom I'd be 'loyal' to would be Vale." Ral said sternly. Being a Jedi for his whole life, he never was comfortable with the idea of loyalty to kingdoms with possibly opposing ideals and goals. While Remnant as a whole was allied together, he still didn't like taking sides.

"Who did you tell?" Winter asked.

"That is a question for another time, Miss Schnee."

Winter frowned, but knew that she couldn't get Ral to talk no matter how much she pestered him about it.

One of the Atlas soldiers barged into the cockpit, clearly in shock over something. "Specialist! Are you…alright? Whatever he was asking her about was lost when the soldier saw how unusually close Remnant's moon was. "What the…"

Shejas spun around in his chair, flashing a cheeky grin. "Ta da! Welcome to space! If you look to your left, you'll see darkness. If you take a glance over to the left, you just might catch a total glimpse of…blackness. It's a lot of fun out here though. Between the pirates, mercenaries, and occasional Rebel fleet, there's a lot of fun to be had out here."

The soldier was arguably more speechless than Winter was on seeing that they were in space and not plummeting to the ground, as had been proven should Dust be used in a vacuum.

"How is this possible?" he finally asked.

Shejas dramatically waved his arms over his head in a arc and said, "Magic!" Winter gave the Zabrak a threatening look and he relented. "Alright, alright. Sheesh. I don't know the specifics of it, but this shuttle uses tibanna gas as fuel instead of that Dust stuff. After that, I don't really know how it works."

"How would you not know how your own ship works?" Winter asked incredulously.

Shejas shrugged defensively and replied, "It's not like this is the only thing I can fly. TIE Fighters, other models of shuttles, freighter ships, I'm sure I could get the hang of helping to fly a Tartan Cruiser or even a Star Destroyer if I really had to."

"I…don't know what any of those are." Winter answered, slightly annoyed at the terms.

Tray sighed and looked at Shejas, "Take the shuttle back into the atmosphere. We don't want the natives to have a heart attack up here."

Shejas nodded and turned the shuttle around, having it fly toward Remnant.

"Natives?" the soldier asked.

"They're from different planets, apparently." Winter answered before the Imperials could.

"Uh…right." the soldier replied, unsure what to think of what was right in front of him. Combined with Shejas' almost alien appearance, and the fact that they were in space, he had no idea what to think.

"We'll be approaching the atmosphere soon." Shejas announced.

Winter could only stare at Remnant as her home planet got closer and closer.

"Entering in five." Shejas said, with the shuttle heating five seconds later.

Winter was quite nervous. Sure, the shuttle had left the atmosphere, but she was unsure if entering it was the same process. She grabbed onto the back of one of the chairs when the ship started to shake, with the soldier doing the same thing.

"And we're clear." Shejas said when the ship stopped shaking. "Welcome to the planet Remnant, ladies and gentlemen. A world of huge monsters that want to eat your face, and a civilization that has yet to leave their world even though I'm pretty sure they could do that by now." he said in a way that made him sound like a tour guide more than an Imperial pilot.

"Right." Winter said, unamused. She straightened her uniform and turned to leave the cockpit.

"Hey!" Shejas called out, looking over his shoulder. "Where do you need us to land?"

Winter lowly growled and turned around, walking back into the cockpit. She pulled out her Scroll and said, "You'll be landing here by the CCTS tower."

"The what?" Shejas asked.

"It's the server host of what's basically their holo-net, Imperial. It's the large tower near the center of the city" Ral explained.

"Oh." With nothing else needed to be said, Shejas carefully flew the shuttle over to the CCTS tower, keeping an eye out for other ships. In the back of his mind, he could not help but wonder what Remnant called their own ships, but he pushed that thought out and focused on flying the shuttle.

"Why exactly is she having us land here?" Tray asked, looking to Ral for some insight, only for the Jedi to shrug.

Shejas guided the shuttle over to the tower's plaza, almost imagining the shocked looks on people's faces. He wasn't quite sure how quickly news spread around on this planet, but he had a feeling that there would be at least some folks who didn't hear about the incident involving a strange ship quite yet.

Down on the ground was a pair of girls, one with blonde hair, and the other had black hair with red at the tips. Along with the many other people around the tower plaza, their eyes were drawn to the sky when a strangely-shaped airship hovered over the plaza, clearly landing there. The people that were closest to the ship quickly moved out of the way, and the ship landed without incident.

The people slowly wandered over to the shuttle, people pulling out their Scrolls to record what was going on, calling friends and family, and various other things. The ramp to the shuttle began to lower, a plethora of steam flying out, concealing the inside for a moment. Curious, everyone waited to see who would be walking out.

"Hey, sis, aren't those Atlas soldiers?" Ruby asked when a few of the stormtroopers emerged from the Lambda Shuttle.

"Looks like it, Rubes…they look a little different though. Might be new equipment they wanna show off?" Yang replied, not realizing that the Imperials were not part of Atlas' military.

A small group of Atlas soldiers followed right behind Winter, along with Ral. That certainly got a few people whispering. Ral was well-known as a Huntsman, but he had never been seen do anything involving Atlas ever since the hostage crisis he helped to stop.

"So…is this some kind of Atlas demonstration?" Ruby asked, quite confused, especially when Tray, Trio, and Shejas stepped out, wearing noticeably different armor. Tray was once more wearing his officer combat armor; Trio's heavy trooper armor was different to begin with; and Shejas was wearing his Mandalorian armor in its entirety, including his helmet.

"I dunno. I bet they'll say something about it soon." Yang answered, waiting to see what Winter had to say.

Winter did not actually have anything to say. She simply walked past the crowd, who was giving her plenty of space, especially with the soldiers just behind her. Just when people chalked it up to something strange on Atlas' part, their attention was drawn back to the shuttle to see another group of people walking down the ramp. To say they had never really seen men like them was a bit of a given. Some certainly recognized the armor of the Imperials, which caused them to wonder if the Imperials were actually with Atlas, or if they were captured.

Winter, Ral, and the other Atlas soldiers stopped at the entrance to the CCTS tower, waiting for the Imperials to catch up with them. Once the two groups were together, Winter said, "If you'll excuse me, I need to contact my superiors. I will be just a moment." She turned around and walked into the lobby of the tower, quickly heading for an elevator, the doors closing shut behind her. She pressed a button and the elevator went to one of the top floors that was reserved for Hunters and those with the proper access.

When the elevator stopped, a mechanical voice asked to have her Scroll and her eye be scanned. She pulled out her Scroll and held it in front of a scanner. As her Scroll was being scanned, she held her eye over a retina scanner for extra identification. She couldn't help but think it may be a little much; but on the other hand, some Hunters had access to information best left out of the public eye.

The elevator door opened and Winter stepped out. There were a few other Hunters spread out through the room, but they all had a common understanding to leave each other to their own business. She walked over to a decently secluded console and put in the needed information to contact General Ironwood.

A few moments later, the screen lit up, and a video image of a woman in a prim and proper Atlas uniform appeared on the screen. "Specialist Schnee? How can I help you?"

"Get me General Ironwood. Tell him that we have most of the Bucketheads in our custody, but apparently, they aren't what we thought they were."

The woman seemed somewhat confused, but she knew not to get too curious about military affairs. Being an assistant to the leader of the military, she had quickly learned to not get too curious about every little thing. She nodded her head and said, "Of course, ma'am. Please hold for a moment." she said, disappearing from the camera.

A few moments later, General James Ironwood entered the camera's sight. "What is it, Winter? What's this about the Bucketheads?" he asked.

Winter offered as crisp a salute as she could manage while sitting at a computer. "Sir. Like you've been informed, we have most of the Bucketheads in our custody, while the rest have been accounted for. I believe the name Jonquil Saffron means something to you?" she stated.

"Yes it does. What does he have to do with them?"

"Well sir, apparently, Mister Saffron has been working with them. He even calls them Imperials, but it doesn't sound like he is very fond of them" Winter said.

Before she could continue, Ironwood noticeably scowled at her initial report. "Damn. I thought he was smarter than that."

"Sir, he claims that it was all one big misunderstanding between us." Winter stated.

Ironwood raised a doubtful eyebrow and said, "Explain. Now."

"It may be better to have Mister Saffron explain it to you in person. He claims that he also has a few people to vouch for what he has to say." Winter answered.

Ironwood sighed and said, "Very well. Tell Mister Saffron that I will be there by the end of the day. You're dismissed, Miss Schnee." With that said, the video call was cut off.

In spite of the call ending, Winter slowly nodded and said, "…Sir." She stood up and turned around, making her way toward the elevator to go back down to the ground floor. She stepped out of the tower and saw the group standing around, with a large crowd around them. A good number of the crowd had Scrolls or even more classical cameras out, trying to take clear pictures of the Imperials. There even appeared to be a few journalists trying to get an interview from either Ral or the Imperials.

She sighed and approached the group. "Alright. Interviews are over. Everyone, go about your day. This is Atlas military business." she said in a way that would not tolerate the protests of the media.

The crowd slowly began to disperse and Winter looked at Ral. "Mister Saffron, General Ironwood will be in Vale by the end of today. If you don't mind, we will be keeping you under custody until he arrives."

"That won't be necessary, Miss Schnee." Ral stated.

"These Imperials are still responsible for the prison break that released Torchwick. I cannot simply let them go as they please." Winter said sternly, crossing her arms.

"Hold on a moment." a voice said.

Winter looked over her shoulder and saw Ozpin heading toward the group, his iconic mug of coffee in hand, and his equally iconic cane in the other.

"Mister Saffron, I got your call and came here as soon as I could." Ozpin said, nodding to Ral.

"Thank you, Headmaster." Ral answered, slightly bowing his head toward the man.

Ozpin glanced over to Tray and the Imperials. "So…These are the men who have been giving the Atlas military so much trouble." he stated more than he asked.

"I…Yes." Winter admitted, embarrassed at the way the Headmaster worded it.

"I see." Ozpin answered, looking over the Imperials. "They certainly seem capable." he finally commented.

"Damn right we're capable." Trio said confidently, only for Brenver to not too gently nudge him with his elbow before he could say something that might screw things up for them.

Ozpin stared at Trio for a few seconds before looking over to Tray. "You're the only one not wearing all white armor. You're the leader of these men, I presume?" he asked.

"That's correct, er…Headmaster sir." Tray said, unsure of Ozpin's name.

Ral cleared his throat and said, "So I suppose we should wait for Ironwood to arrive before getting to business?"

"That is correct, Mister Saffron." Ozpin answered. He took a sip from his mug and continued. "We can wait for him at my office back at Beacon."

"That will work. It would certainly be better than standing around where people can see and hear all of this." Winter stated, pulling out her Scroll quickly to send one of Ironwood's assistants a message about where they will be waiting for the general. She put her Scroll away and tuned back into the conversation.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go then." Trio said impatiently.

"Very well." Ozpin said, feeling that Trio wasn't the kind of man who liked to wait around just talking.

"We can easily just fly over to Beacon in the shuttle." Tray said, gesturing to the Lambda.

"Come on! Let's go!" Trio said, quickly turning around to walk toward the shuttle.

Various members of the large group exchanged glances, some of them shrugged to each other, but they all started to move toward the shuttle, the ramp lowering down. The group all entered the shuttle, with the ramp rising up and sealing shut the only way on or off the shuttle.

The shuttle took off, making a beeline for Beacon Academy. Winter couldn't help but be quite impressed with the ship's speed. What would have taken a normal airship about twenty to thirty minutes to fly from Vale to Beacon, the shuttle did in just over ten minutes.

Except for Shejas, they all stepped out of the shuttle, with Ozpin acting like he hadn't just been on an alien ship. He even saw Shejas, but he was not fazed in the slightest. Tray couldn't help but think that the old man knew far more than he let on. He looked ahead and saw a blonde woman wearing glasses walking toward them. The woman ignored the group entirely and walked straight up to Ozpin.

"Ozpin, one of the second year teams has gotten into a lot of trouble while you were gone. Doctor Oobleck is currently discussing with them what happened, but we believe that you will need to address this in person." she stated in frustration.

Ozpin nodded in understanding. "I'll talk to them, Glynda." He replied reassuringly. He looked to the group and said, "My office is at the top of that tower. Unfortunately, I do have some business to take care of. Mister Saffron knows the way, so he'll take you there and I will be back." He turned and began to follow Glynda.

"You heard the man. Follow me." Ral said, waving them over to follow him. He led the group past the docking area, showing a long pathway to the main building of Beacon's campus.

Tray had never gotten a good enough chance to look at Beacon's architecture, but he was quite impressed. Still had nothing on buildings like the ruined Jedi Temple, the Senate Building, and the Imperial Palace, but it was still quite nice to look at. I could see this place being on Naboo. he thought. He took note of a large statue of a man and a woman, likely famous figures of the past, standing atop a creature that Tray assumed was a Grimm.

"Impressive, isn't it, Lieutenant?" Renbra whispered from next to him.

"Yes. It is."

"Unlike most of the monuments on Coruscant, it actually looks like this statue is a tribute to real heroes, and not some propaganda-flooded story to remind us of the Empire's brutality." Renbra whispered back.

Even though she didn't catch every word the two Imperials said, Winter did clearly catch the last two words. Ral certainly heard it as well, but he chose not to say anything. He not only knew of the Empire's brutal methods for dealing with an uprising, he experienced the receiving end of the Empire's full wrath early on in the Jedi Purges. He had been lucky to survive at all. Pushing those painful memories away, he continued to lead the group toward the main building.

They passed a few teenagers in some kind of uniform on the way, which raised a few questions in Tray's mind. "Aren't these people a little…young to be going to a military academy?" he asked.

Winter opened her mouth to answer his question, but Ral cut her off. "I already told you. Huntsmen Academies are not a military-run operation unless you're looking at Atlas' Academy."

"They still look a little young."

"Not at all. With a few exceptions, only people who are seventeen or older are allowed into one of these academies. Training to join an Academy also takes a few years of training at a combat school." Ral explained as they neared the door to the main building. He opened the door and held it open for the group to walk through.

They entered the main lobby of the tower, and once more, Tray felt impressed at the interior. It still lacked the grand scale of the Empire's more iconic buildings, but this building seemed to have more than just ancient history and recent bloodshed associated with it. We could certainly take some inspirations from these people. he thought.

Ral led them to an elevator and pressed the button. Tray was expecting what he thought was a turbolift to arrive very soon, but he found himself growing impatient when over a full minute passed.

"These elevators are not what we're used to, Lieutenant. They're painfully slow." Trio explained, with Tray nodding in response.

Winter heard this, and her curiosity was piqued. First, these people could go into space, and now their elevators are sounding far superior to Remnant's elevators? She knew that she would need to find out more about these people if this wasn't the most elaborate joke in history.

The group piled into the elevator when the door finally opened, but the stormtroopers' armor made them far too heavy, leaving Tray, Trio, Soltrev, Winter, and three Atlas soldiers to wait for the next elevator trip.

The wait for the elevator to come back down was awkward to say the least. Winter would constantly stare down each of the Imperials, making even Tray feel a little uncomfortable by the time the door finally opened again. The four of them walked into the elevator when it was time and Winter pressed a button. When the elevator door shut, Tray was expecting the usual sudden burst of speed, but it never came. Instead, the elevator jolted, but seemed to have gone really slowly. It wasn't helped by the fact that the elevator stopped at different floors than what they needed, leaving some students to curiously stare at them and say that they'll just catch the next elevator.

The elevator finally reached the top of the tower and opened, revealing a large, spacious room. Tray glanced around the room, noticing that the room had an old-fashioned clock-oriented theme to it.

"Ozpin should be along shortly. We'll wait for him to finish his business, and then we can proceed with discussions about your origins and intentions until General Ironwood arrives for deeper conversations and negotiations if need be." Winter stated very formally, holding her hands behind her back in a stance that reminded all of the Imperials of other officers, including Tray on occasion.

"That will not be necessary." Ozpin said, the elevator door shutting behind him. Standing next to him was Glynda, a slight frown on her face.

Ozpin nodded to the people in the room and made his way to his desk. "Thank you all for your patience." he said as he sat down.

"No problem. It wasn't that long a wait." Tray replied, walking over to stand in front of the desk.

Ozpin grabbed his mug and took a sip from it before setting it back down. "So…shall we begin?" he asked, looking Tray in the eye.

 **And that's a wrap. I wanted to have more, but I should get at least something out for you guys. See ya'll in the next chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16

13

 **New chapter for you guys. Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 16: Water Under the Bridge**

Ozpin grabbed his mug and took a sip from it before setting it back down. "So…shall we begin?" he asked, looking Tray in the eye.

"Where to begin?" Tray asked, wanting to get this whole thing over with already.

Ozpin folded his fingers with each other and looked at Ral. "Perhaps Mister Jonquil could shed some light to avoid confusion between you and Winter…or should I say Master Thiste?" he said with a knowing smile.

"Wait…'Master Thiste'?" Winter questioned, but her question went ignored for the moment.

"Ozpin, I have been over this with you and everyone else that knows the truth. I am not a Master; I was only a Knight when you found me." Ral replied.

"Ah. My mistake."

"What's this about Masters and Knights?" Winter asked, her eyebrow slightly twitching in irritation. She hated having no clue what was going on, and this day was full of it.

"Forgive me." Ral said, bowing his head to Winter. "Much like these Imperials, I am also not from Remnant. I am… _was_ part of an organization of peacekeepers" he explained, glancing to Brenver in particular. He looked back to Winter and continued. "There were a few ranks within our Order. Knight was the title given to those who had passed the trials to officially join our ranks, while Master was a title reserved for much older, more experienced Knights who were models of our Code." he lectured.

"Code?" Winter asked curiously.

Ral lightly smiled to himself and recited the Jedi Code that he had memorized and took comfort in, to this very day. "There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no chaos; there is harmony. There is no death; there is the Force." He didn't even realize he had closed his eyes sometime through the recital until he opened them, a feeling of peace and calm washing over him, likely filling the spacious office room.

The Imperials lightly shuffled in place, not sure if they should really be hearing something that sounded to be a central aspect to the lives of the order they had almost entirely wiped out. Brenver in particular felt like he shouldn't have heard this. He may not have fired a single blaster at any Jedi since he was too young to be fighting in the Clone Wars, but a good number of his many thousands of brothers most certainly did. He couldn't help but avert his eyes away from the Jedi even if his helmet concealed his face. He supposed that as a clone, Ral would still blame him for Order 66 if the Jedi ever found out about his past.

"I see." Winter replied, putting her chin in her hand in thought. "Wait…Director Ozpin called you 'Thiste.' Is that your real name?" she asked.

"That is a story for another time. For simplicity's sake, you can still refer to him as Jonquil Saffron." Ozpin stated. "Right now, we need to explain other more important things to you." He looks to Ral and then Tray. "Perhaps you two could fill in the blanks for us?" he asked knowingly.

"I'll start." Tray stated. He looked at Winter and said, "As you can clearly attest to, we are not from your planet, instead coming from various planets within the Galactic Empire. Without going into too full detail, the Empire has been at war with itself in the form of the Rebel Alliance, a huge uprising that wishes to overthrow the Empire and restore the Galactic Republic."

"At least you're honest, Imperial." Ral mumbled under his breath, with Tray ignoring the comment.

"These Rebels dealt a crucial blow to the Empire by destroying a super weapon we were constructing as well as the two most powerful leaders of the Empire, Emperor Palpatine and his right hand man, Lord Vader." Tray continued, taking note of the angered look on Ral's face and deciding it was wise to not speak of the two. "We and many others deserted after that battle, and we have since been looking for a place to hide. Remnant is the first truly promising world we found that is out of the way of both the Empire and the Alliance." he explained, well aware that what he said was taking a little while.

"What kind of super weapon did your Empire create?" Ozpin asked curiously.

Tray hesitated for a moment, but he saw no harm in talking about the second Death Star. "It…was a construct much larger than most space stations, but it was smaller than your own moon. I don't know the science behind it but this…Death Star…was capable of destroying an entire planet in the blink of an eye."

Ral's eyes slowly widened. "Hold on a moment. Was this Death Star…ever used?"

Tray shook his head. "No. The second one was used to destroy some of the larger ships in the Rebel fleet. The first one on the other hand…" he said, trailing off while still leaving it rather obvious that the First Death Star had in fact been used for more than just ships.

Ral slowly nodded, still shocked that such a weapon could have possibly existed. "…How long ago was it since the first one destroyed a planet? And which world did it destroy?"

"Six years ago. It was destroyed by the Rebels. We really should continue to explain other things first."

"No!" Ral said firmly. "You will tell me which world your Empire destroyed, and why."

"I cannot tell you why since I don't know, but…it was Alderaan." Tray replied honestly.

Ral stiffened up. "Alderaan? But…why?" he asked quietly.

"I cannot tell you why because I don't know." Tray said, slowly shaking his head.

"…What were we talking about?" Ral asked. He didn't want to think about such a peaceful world being destroyed. So many people, so much history and culture…gone. Just like that, one of the most well known worlds in the galaxy was gone. Lost in his thoughts, he payed no attention to the rest of Tray's story about what he and the ex-Imperials were doing on Remnant.

"What do you think, Ral? Is their story true?" Ozpin asked, knowing the Jedi was lost in thought.

"…Yes. It is true." Ral said, trying to sound convincing.

Winter looked lost in her own thoughts too. She had been on their ship, been taken to space, and had even fought with them. By all rights, she should have every reason to believe them, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. "Perhaps more proof will be required to sway the General's opinion." she stated stubbornly.

"Come now, Winter. It's a big change in our worldview, but you've been on their ship after all." Ozpin reasoned.

Winter frowned and looked away, staring outside of the office toward Vale for a moment, saying nothing.

"Well? What say you?" Ozpin asked.

"I _want_ to believe you, but…I don't know if I _can_."

"Come on, you've seen my face. No way an ugly mug like this could ever have come from your world." Shejas pointed out, removing his helmet to show his very alien appearance and flashing a grin to show his pointed teeth for emphasis before putting it back on in case someone came in at the wrong time.

Winter sighed and said, "It's just a _lot_ to take in right now."

"Take your time, Winter. You have plenty of time to accept the truth until James arrives." Ozpin said calmly.

"What truth?" Winter snapped. "That we're not alone out there?!" She looked at Tray and angrily said, "Why has your Empire not done anything to help us?! We're humans just like you!" She instantly took in a sharp breath to regain her composure and sighed. "…Sorry" she said, closing her eyes, reprimanding herself in her head.

Tray shrugged and said, "As far as I know, no one has ever been to your world other than Ral over there." His eyes took a more serious edge and he continued. "Trust me on this. You do _not_ want the Empire to know about your people. By all rights, you are human, but this…Aura of yours completely changes things. If a group of slavers ever heard of your world, they would surely kidnap as many of your people as they could possibly carry on their ships. Very human-looking aliens who have a natural energy shield of sorts? No one on your world could resist the galaxy trying to force your people into all kinds of armies and mercenary groups. From what little I know of the Faunus, that would certainly add an exotic appeal for more…tasteless forms of slavery…especially the women."

"Slavery? You allow that?!" Winter exclaimed, glaring at Tray, and making the Imperials take slightly defensive stances before Tray gestured to them to relax.

Tray looked at Winter in the eye, making sure she knew that he was deadly serious with what he was about to say. "Yes and no. The Empire…does make use of slavery; but for some races, slavery is a part of their very culture, and it is extremely hard to tell them that it's inherently wrong." he explained, knowing he was walking on thin ice right now.

Winter clenched her teeth and glared at Tray. "How could you possibly be okay with this?!" she yelled, her hand hovering over her sword.

"Winter. Calm down." Ral ordered. "Do you really think he condones slavery? He's never said anything of the sort. Slavery is a crime against all sentients, no matter who they are, and I can tell that these men believe that as well." he said, showing his disgust at the concept of slavery.

"Ral…you may want to take your own advice." Ozpin pointed out, taking note of the Jedi's subtle body language that showed that he was absolutely livid at the very thought of slavery.

Ral sighed and realized that the man was right. "Forgive me…It has been sometime since I last spoke of slavery. It was…refreshing to see that slavery is—for the most part—unheard of on Remnant except for ancient history and fairytales."

Trio sighed and impatiently said, "Can't we just wait for this General to show up? We won't have to explain everything twice this way."

Ozpin lightly smiled at Trio. "If you feel that way, then why not ask your comrades about it?" he stated, gesturing to the Imperials.

"Trio's got a point." Brenver said, agreeing with Trio. "Besides, I think the lady here believes us, going into space and all. No need to try to do it more" he added with a confident smile in Winter's direction.

Slowly, the rest of the Imperials nodded, thinking that it would be best to wait on Ironwood to arrive. Ozpin leaned forward and folded his hands together. "In the meantime, is there anything _you_ would like to know about _us_?"

Tray thought over it for a moment before speaking up. "This uh…Aura business. How does it work?"

Ozpin smiled knowingly. "That is a question that even we can't fully answer. All we know is that Aura is the manifestation of the soul. It acts as a barrier, protecting us from harm, and it can even be used to strengthen ourselves in a time of need. I'm sure there are other uses for Aura, but they have not yet been discovered." he answered, taking a sip out of his mug when he finished. There was plenty he chose to not tell the Imperials about Aura, but he felt that it would take a long time to really explain everything that he personally knew about Aura.

Trio let out a quiet scoff even rolling his eyes near the end. "The soul? Doubtful. It's probably just some unique ability of your strain of Human DNA."

Ozpin glanced over to Trio and sighed. "I'm sure it must be hard for you to believe, but I think that in the light of your own situation, do forgive our two groups for having a hard time believing each other."

Trio rolled his eyes and began to mumble under his breath, only for Brenver to once more ram his elbow into the man's side. Trio flinched and growled at Brenver, but he otherwise did nothing else.

As the hours went by, further exposition was given sparingly by either side. Winter was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that there was an entire civilization that lived on untold thousands of worlds, and that humans were among the largest races in the galaxy.

In the meantime, Tray was putting his mind toward how he would explain some things to Ironwood as Trio and Brenver decided to arm wrestle to pass the time, even swapping a few credits to increase the stakes. It was nothing major, but it certainly gave both men some incentive to win. Periodically, Ozpin would get a message from his Scroll and he would dismiss himself, presumably to take care of something going on within Beacon.

Finally, as the sun began to set, casting the room in a golden glow, the elevator door opened, revealing more AK-130's. The robots walked out of the elevator to show a single man behind them. Tray couldn't help but get a chill down his spine. This man had an air of authority that was not unlike that of a Grand Moff. However, it seemed much more benevolent than that of such a high ranking Imperial, so he was willing to give this man the benefit of the doubt. _Since when did I start to notice things like this?_ he found himself thinking, but he quickly pushed it away and focused on the man.

Winter almost instantly came to full attention and saluted the man. "General." she said formally.

"At ease, Winter." the man said. He glanced over to the Imperials and said, "I presume these are the Bucketheads?"

Trio's eye twitched just a little as he looked at the General. He always hated the Rebel nickname for soldiers like him, but to hear people who didn't know about the galaxy at large using that name seemed to irk him even more.

"Actually, they call themselves Imperials." Winter answered matter of factly after she relaxed her stance while still remaining very collected.

"Sorry for my ignorance, Imperials." the man said. "We have not had much information on you. Really, this is the closest that we've had to knowing anything about you." He nodded his head and continued. "I am James Ironwood, General of the Atlesian military as well as the headmaster of Atlas Academy."

Tray glanced to his men for an instant before looking back to Ironwood. "I'm Tray Dimsill, former Lieutenant of the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow on hearing Tray say 'former.' "Former? You are deserters then." he said more than he asked.

"Yes. We left the Empire after our top leaders were killed. About time too. They were complete monsters, and I can safely say that every one of us were forced into service to different extents, be it by the Empire itself, or simply because joining the military is far easier than trying to make a life for ourselves otherwise."

Ironwood slowly nodded and looked over to Ozpin. "How much have they told you?" he asked formally.

Ozpin slightly shrugged and said, "Not much more than you don't already know. We decided to wait on you to arrive so that they would not have to explain things a second time. As for Miss Schnee here, she can validate a certain aspect of their story that may or may not be hard to believe."

Ironwood looked at the Imperials doubtfully. "Try me."

Tray hesitated for a moment before figuring that telling him the truth right off the bat couldn't hurt. "We're not from Remnant. Far from it, actually."

Ironwood gave another skeptical look and said, "I highly doubt that is true. Dust doesn't work in a vacuum, it's been proven time after time."

"Actually, sir…they can go into space." Winter said after a moment's hesitation. Ironwood looked at Winter, his eyes demanding an explanation. "They took me into space with their ship. General, I was so close to the moon, they could easily have landed on it."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow, but could see the honesty in Winter's eyes. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" he asked, wanting to see if what Winter had to say was true or not.

"Not sure if the shuttle has enough fuel for that, to be honest." Shejas replied, his helmet slightly muffling his voice.

Ironwood looked at the helmeted Zabrak and said, "Who is this?"

Before anything else happened, Tray spoke up. "He's our pilot, and he's a good friend. He has embarrassing scars on his face, so he's almost always wearing his helmet now." he lied.

Ironwood had a feeling that the man was lying, but he was not going to press. "Right…Are you going to show me your ship or not?" he asked somewhat impatiently.

Ozpin worriedly looked at Ironwood and said, "Come now, James. There is more to them than just their ship."

"They have technology that could threaten all of Remnant." Ironwood rebutted.

Tray scoffed at that statement. "Do you really think we are here to attack you? If we were, you would have been completely conquered days ago." he said matter of factly.

Ironwood looked at Tray, not believing him. "I highly doubt that. The best you have done was cause a prison break, and then fail to catch one of the most dangerous criminals in the kingdom of Vale. That hardly sounds like the work of conquerors."

Ral felt this was a good moment to speak up. "They are telling the truth, General Ironwood. They have weapons and technology that could incinerate all of the kingdoms without a second thought."

James looked at Ral curiously. "Is there a reason you are here?" he asked, his voice betraying his dislike of the Jedi.

"I'm the one who found them. I've been…guiding them through Remnant to keep them from doing the wrong thing at the wrong time."

"Then tell us why you didn't inform anyone about this." Ironwood accused.

"Actually, I did tell someone. Director Ozpin here knows about it, and Miss Goodwitch as well. I've told no one else about this."

Ironwood sighed and looked at Ozpin. "Why didn't you tell me about this? I've had to divert good men that could've been used for more important matters. Miss Schnee also wasted her time with something that was not a concern. I don't like time being wasted, Ozpin."

"How were we to know that you were searching for them?" Ozpin retorted calmly.

"It was on the news. You had to have known that we would look for these men after they attacked one of our bases." Ironwood replied.

"Your men arrested us without cause. There were no markings we saw that we were trespassing on military property, and we were not given a chance to turn back the way we came." Brenver butted in, inwardly wincing at speaking out of turn.

Ironwood looked at Winter. "Miss Schnee. You were at the base when they were first encountered. Is this true?" he asked, a dangerous edge in his voice.

"All I know is what the men who apprehended them told me. They reported that the Imperials were trespassing military property quite a way past the boundary." Winter replied a little defensively.

James sighed and rubbed at his forehead with the hand that Tray noted had a white glove over it. He also noticed that the other hand wasn't wearing a glove. This wasn't his first time seeing a high-ranking officer wearing only one glove, so he didn't think much else of it.

James looked at Tray and said, "If that is the case, that you were not given a chance to turn back, than on behalf of the Atlesian military, I sincerely apologize."

Tray nodded and said, "Apology accepted. However, I would like some of our medical technology to be returned to us."

James raised an eyebrow and said, "I do not know what you are talking about."

Tray frowned and said, "Yes you do. Surely, you are familiar with a certain blue liquid that has miraculous healing properties?"

"No. Never heard of such a thing." James said in spite of knowing exactly what the ex-Imperial was talking about.

Tray stared at Ironwood for a few seconds, looking for any sign of dishonesty, but he couldn't see any that were readily apparent. Backing down, he looked at Ozpin and said, "Are we done here? I have people that are waiting on our return."

Ozpin looked at Ironwood to silently ask if he was done questioning the Imperials. Ironwood sighed, but nodded his head. He looked Tray in the eye and said, "You're free to go. If we hear that you are committing any sort of crime however, Atlas _will_ come after you." he stated.

"Is that a threat?" Tray asked challengingly.

"More of a promise."

Tray fought back a smirk. This man would have made a great Moff with that kind of attitude. If others were more like the general he assumed Ironwood to be like, the Rebels would likely be a thing of the past as of the Battle of Yavin IV. He turned his head to his squad and said, "Let's go. I think we've made our case by now."

"I still highly doubt that you are actually from space." Ironwood stated before they could move.

Shejas sighed under his helmet and said, "Tray, sorry for doing this but…" He reached his hands up to his helmet and unsealed it, removing his helmet to expose his face that was anything but Human.

Ironwood's eyes widened ever so slightly on seeing the Zabrak and he raised a single eyebrow in disbelief. "I…don't know what to say."

Shejas flashed a toothy grin put his helmet back on. "Then don't." He sealed the helmet, the armor making a small hissing sound as the seals locked up.

Tray slowly shook his head, wondering why Shejas exposed himself like that. He led his squad to the elevator and looked at Ral. "Are you coming with us?" he asked.

Ral shook his head. "No. I have my own explanations to make to these people." he stated. "Go on without me. Go back to my home. I'll find my own way back."

Tray nodded and walked into the elevator, the rest of his squad following him.

Ozpin watched them leave, but then he said, "Glynda, go with them to their ship. It'll probably help people relax to see a professor escorting them." Renbra heard that and pressed the button that he assumed would hold the elevator.

Glynda looked at Ozpin before nodding. "That would be best." she said, walking into the elevator with the Imperials, but keeping her distance.

Almost the moment the doors shut, Glynda looked at Tray and said, "I don't trust you. Any of you."

"That's up to you, ma'am." Tray replied neutrally.

"It's been proven that it's not possible to go into space at this time. I have no reason to believe that other humans 'suddenly' found the key to leaving this world, otherwise you would have reported it to the world."

"That's because we are not from here to begin with. Judging by both yours and that General's skepticism, I have no doubt that others would be just as unbelieving or even more so than you two. However, I won't try to force you to believe us, for there would be no point in it."

Glynda was about to retort, but the elevator doors opened, revealing a group of students standing around the exit. It looked like Ozpin was right about it being a good idea to have a faculty member with the Imperials. She stepped out of the elevator first and said, "Worry not, students; everything is fine. As you were."

The small crowd slowly dispersed, giving the Imperials enough room to exit the elevator and then leave the building. Whether is was because of Glynda's reputation as a very strict teacher or the fact that everything seemed to be fine was up for debate. She led Tray and his squad down the long pathway out of Beacon's campus and they saw their shuttle right where they left it. Glynda stopped when they reached the end of the pathway and stared at them. "…Skeptical or not, you have Ozpin's approval. I don't like it, but I trust him enough to give you the benefit of the doubt…for now."

Tray smiled at Glynda, though it was rather clear that he wasn't genuine. "We'll keep that in mind, milady." He nodded to his squad, and they began to board the Lambda.

"You had better. I'm with James in distrusting you." Glynda said as Tray turned and walked up the ramp to the shuttle.

Shejas took his helmet off and made his way to the cockpit. "We should probably pick up Taddrei." he commented to Tray.

Tray blinked when he realized that the youngest soldier in the squad was taken by Atlas. "Oh…yeah, we should." He quickly pulled out his comm and attempted to contact Ral to tell him to ask General Ironwood to release Taddrei to them.

" _What is it, Imperial?_ "

"Ra—Jonquil, I forgot to ask the General to release Taddrei to us. Could you tell him about it?" Tray requested politely.

" _Of course. I will tell him about your subordinate._ "

"Thank you, Jonquil." Tray said, ending the call and putting his comm back where it used to be. He headed for the cockpit and sat down next to Shejas. "Ral should have Taddrei cleared to leave, but it would be best to wait on that."

"You got it, boss." Shejas said, kicking his feet up onto the dashboard and putting his hands behind his head.

After a few minutes of waiting, Tray's comm went off again, and the Lieutenant answered it. "Yes?"

" _Lieutenant, I spoke with Ironwood, and he's agreed to release Taddrei to you. He's at the Vale Hospital. All you have to do to land at the Vale Airport, and then head for the Hospital. The people there will know to turn him over to you."_

"Got it. Thank you." Tray said, ending the comm call. He looked to Shejas and said, "You heard him. Head for the airport."

"Okay." Shejas replied, planting his feet back on the floor and starting up the engines.

The shuttle lifted off, and flew toward what Shejas assumed was the airport. After all, where else would a large number of ships just sit? As the shuttle made its way toward the airport, two ships that appeared to be military grade fighters flew alongside the shuttle, though they notably seemed to struggle to keep up.

Shejas looked at the pilot of one of the fighters. "Uh…is it bad that I'm not picking up any kind of comm channel from them?" he asked, looking at Tray.

Tray quickly worked to find the right comm channel to see if he could hear anything on, but it was to no avail. "Our comms are probably incompatible with theirs for some reason. Just…let them escort us and don't do _anything_ that could let them think we're hostile."

"Fly casual. Got it."

Tray rolled his eyes and said, "I still don't think that's possible."

"Don't know if it is, don't care if it's not."

Shejas calmly flew the shuttle over a few airstrips until the fighters flew off. "I think they want us to land here." he stated with a chuckle as he quickly started the landing sequence and making the shuttle's wings lock into the landing position. "I'll stay here and watch the ship. Make sure no one gets on-board. You go bring Taddrei back here."

Tray nodded and got up from his chair. "I'll update you when we have Taddrei." he said as he walked out of the cockpit, shouldering his E-11 as he left. He found Trio and Brenver on his way out and said, "Trio, Brenver, you're with me. Let's get Taddrei back.

The two soldiers stood up and followed Tray off the ramp as it lowered. As they stepped off the ramp, Tray saw a group of Atlas soldiers. One of them approached the three and said, "Identify yourself, citizen."

Tray couldn't help but wonder why the kingdom of Vale would let a foreign power post its military within its borders and act like…well, like the Empire did before it became a symbol of fear and oppression rather than a symbol of order and peace. Quickly pushing his thoughts on the matter aside, he said, "We are not citizens of Vale nor Atlas. If you must know, your General knows who we are. If you cannot reach him, I'd suggest contacting Specialist Winter Schnee."

The soldier looked hesitant to listen to the ex-Lieutenant, but he took a few steps away while the rest of the soldiers kept their eye on the Imperials. The soldier came back and held his hand out to the others, making a few hand motions. "You three are clear to go, but your ship stays here until you come back with your friend."

"Of course." Tray said with a formal nod.

The soldier pointed toward a door leading to the terminal building and said, "Military, Huntsmen, and other armed individuals have a special entrance and exit over there. You'll want to go through there if you plan on keeping your weapons. The clerks will know to let you by without incident."

"Thank you." Tray replied cooly, looking in the direction that the soldier pointed in. He looked over his shoulder and said, "Let's go."

The three Imperials headed for the terminal building and walked in through the designated door. A pair of clerks looked up from behind their large counter and one of them waved at the three. "Hello there. Passports and Huntsmen or military IDs please?" she said until she took a better look at the gear of the three Imperials. "Oh. Forgive me. You're the ones that we were told to pass through, correct? Tray, Brenver, and Trio…right?"

Tray nodded, feeling that there should be some other kind of identification process besides confirming a name without proof, but decided to just go with it. "Yes."

"Alright. You're free to head out through that door over there. Should you choose to, a Huntsman by the name of Jonquil Saffron reserved you a rental car for your stay here in Vale." the clerk said, offering a polite smile.

"We won't be gone long. Just long enough to pick someone up and then we'll be coming right back." Tray explained.

"Oh. Well, I hope you find what you're looking for!" the clerk said cheerfully.

"Thank you." Tray said, smiling at the girl and walked away, Trio and Brenver right behind him. As he walked out of the terminal, he mumbled to the other two. "That felt weird."

"What?" Brenver asked in slight confusion.

"That girl. There was no fear in her eyes when she saw us. Her cheerful smile wasn't forced or faked. It was genuine."

Underneath his helmet, Brenver's eyes softened. "The Empire means nothing to these people. Our symbols don't carry the same fear here that they do anywhere else. We hold no more weight on this world as anyone else does. We're just normal men wearing fancy armor as far as they're concerned."

"I suppose. It feels…refreshing." Tray replied, thinking over it.

"Pfft. I don't know about you, but I liked seeing people ready to soil themselves when they saw an Imperial Officer looking at them." Trio said, grinning under his helmet.

Brenver clearly glared at Trio, but Tray stepped between them. "Enough! We still have to get Taddrei!" he yelled, glancing from Brenver to Trio. "…Arguing about this will only keep us here longer than we need to be!" he said sternly. The two stormtroopers sighed before nodding in agreement. "Good. Now let's go." Tray said with finality, turning back around and seeing the car that the clerk mentioned. An airport worker stood next to it and waved them over.

When the three ex-Imperials approached the man, he smiled at them and said, "Hello, this is the car that your friend has rented for you." He held out the keys to Tray, who took them, suddenly realizing something: he was pretty sure that none of them would know how to drive this 'car.' The man bowed politely and walked away from the three.

As he walked away, the three took a good look at the care. "Uh…where are the engines? Is it these round things?" Trio asked, kicking one of the car tires.

"I dunno. Maybe? How would that work though?" Tray muttered to himself.

"They're wheels. A good number of vehicles from the Clone Wars had these. Walkers were still kind of new, so wheels were sometimes preferred over walkers." Brenver explained. He smirked under his helmet and said, "You should try it, Lieutenant."

Not wanting to be around any longer than necessary, Tray opened one of the doors and climbed into the driver's seat. As he waited for the other two to climb in, he looked around for something that looked like the key could be used for. As he examined the steering wheel, he found a small slot that looked like the key would go into on the bottom right of the steering wheel. Feeling like there was no harm in trying, he inserted the key…and nothing happened.

Thinking it was the wrong slot, Tray attempted to pull the key out, but it was stuck. He attempted to pull harder, but it wouldn't budge. Finally, he accidentally turned the key clockwise and the engine made a sound as if it was trying to come to life, but it stopped.

"You should probably keep it turned that way." Brenver suggested knowingly, having sat down in the passenger seat while Trio sat behind him.

"Let's hope so." Tray said, not wanting to look like idiots just sitting inside a car and not knowing what to do. He turned the key and held it down until the engine fully came to life, and he relaxed his grip on the key, feeling that the engine was still running. "Alright. We have that done…now to actually drive it." he murmured to himself as he slowly began to figure out how the car worked. Once he found out about the different gears and running systems, he put the car into reverse and carefully backed out of the parking spot, secretly thankful that there were no other cars close to either side as he pulled the car out of its space and slowly drove out of the parking lot. "I have a bad feeling about this."

 **And that's a wrap. See y'all next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

10 of 10

 **Alright, new chapter for you guys. I think it's high time the** _ **Equinox**_ **got some time in the spotlight before her crew arrives on Remnant. Here ya go, I hope you guys enjoy!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney, and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 17: Equinox**

As Tray and his survey team struggled to set up communications with the _Equinox_ once more, the aforementioned Star Destroyer drifted in space.

Marcant, the captain of the _Equinox_ stared at the datapad containing the scans of Remnant. He had to admit that he was a little worried about his team. _They should have arrived and at least sent us a message by now. Are they too far away even for long-range radar? No, that's impossible. A starfighter from twenty years ago has been able to send messages at further distances before. Either their comms are not working for some reason, or they've been captured or killed. The question is…who would have done that? Pirates? Rebels? Loyal Imperials?_ he thought in concern.

He made his way toward one of the stations on the bridge and said, "Has there been any word from Lieutenant Tray and his team?"

The officer at the comm station shook his head. "No sir. Not a single thing. I haven't picked up a single blip from them. My guess is either their comms are down, or that planet is somehow blocking their transmissions."

"In both of those scenarios, they would simply come back and tell us in person." Marcant pointed out.

"If you'd like, we could deploy a few probe droids to find out what's going on." the officer suggested.

"That's actually a good idea. See to it that it's done. Make sure to load the droids with a message to Tray's team to return if able."

"Yes sir. Would you like to record the message?"

"That would be best. Lieutenant Tray is very cautious when it comes to the safety of his men, so it would be best if he saw me in the message instead of just another officer. Not that you aren't important, but Tray will likely lean on the side of caution in this regard if he gets a probe droid message from anyone else other than his captain." Marcant replied, meaning no offense to the comms officer.

"Of course. No offense taken, sir." the officer said genuinely.

Marcant walked up to the comm and said, "Let me know when it's recording." A few seconds later, the officer nodded to the Captain. Marcant saw that he was being recorded and said, "Lieutenant, this is Captain Marcant. You have not reported in for quite some time. If you are able, please return to the _Equinox_ as soon as possible. If something is keeping you bound to that world, send this probe droid back with a message explaining what's going on. We will continue to communicate in this way until you are able to contact or return to us safely." He nodded to the officer, and the message recording ended.

"I'll get to work right away on sending out those probe droids. They should be heading out in a matter of minutes." the comms officer stated.

"Excellent. Let me know when they are deployed." Marcant said, turning his back and walking back to the main part of the bridge.

"Sir." the comms officer said, saluting Marcant out of habit.

Marcant made his rounds throughout the bridge, talking with the crew members and in general doing what he did best: talking to his men. He was suddenly broken out of his routine by the bridge shaking violently. He spun around to the front of the bridge and yelled, "Status report!"

One of the crew members in the piloting section looked up at Marcant and said, "Sir! Rebel fighters are attacking us!"

"Scramble as many TIEs as possible and man the turrets!" Marcant bellowed out to the people in charge of the TIE squadrons' orders and then to the man who was sitting at the turret command station

"Yes sir!" both men called out.

Marcant looked at the man over by the comm station and said, "Jam their transmissions! I don't want them informing any other Rebels out there of our location!"

"Too late, sir! We're picking up a distress signal from one of the X-Wings! Any Rebels out there will be here in a matter of minutes!"

"Blast…" Marcant growled. He had hoped that by staying inside a nebula the _Equinox_ could keep itself hidden from any passersby. He hadn't counted on Rebels going _through_ the nebula themselves. Quite the mistake on his part. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind when an X-Wing flew by the bridge. "Where are those damned TIEs?!" he roared.

"They're flying as we speak, sir!" an officer replied.

"If there's a turret without someone manning it, I want someone on it!" Marcant ordered. He quickly made his way toward the back of the bridge and looked at the holotable that displayed the Equinox and the X-Wings that were swarming the ship. A few seconds later, small holograms that indicated the TIE Fighter squadrons appeared, and Marcant relaxed. Even if it wasn't something he wanted, the pilots would at least slow down the Rebel starfighters.

He walked over to one of the comm stations and said, "I want you to keep this station plugged into the general comms for the TIE squadron leaders unless you _have_ to use it for something else."

"Uh…right away sir." the officer replied, stepping aside.

"All wings. You know what you're goal is. Protect the _Equinox!_ I know I am asking a lot of you, but do your best. Should you perish…you _will_ be mourned and remembered. I will make sure of it." Marcant said sadly. He knew that death was just a reality behind being in charge of an entire Star Destroyer, but it still didn't sit right with him to more or less send his men to certain death. _Let's hope that_ these _Rebels are inexperienced_. he thought apprehensively as he looked out of the bridge and saw the TIE fighter wings open fire on the X-Wing squadrons, destroying a few quickly before the Rebel pilots could regroup.

One of the many TIE Fighter pilots ships listened to the Captain's transmission to them and nodded in appreciation. It was safe to say that Jereque 'Specter-Five' Levant didn't have much to lose, but an entire 'family' to protect. He locked onto one of the distracted X-Wing pilots and opened fire once he was in range, destroying the starfighter in mere seconds. _Another sign of our superior training…_ he thought when he saw the surrounding X-Wings scatter, seemingly in a panic over the sudden destruction of one of their comrades.

He quickly locked onto another X-Wing, but felt his TIE shake when another Rebel fighter hit his ship's wing. "I'm hit!" he cried out, doing his best to stabilize his ship.

Another TIE fighter pilot opened fire on the X-Wing that tried to kill Jereque. " _I got your back, Specter-Five!_ "

"Thanks." Jereque muttered in thanks as he stabilized his ship and flew toward the nearest Rebel ship, but turned his ship to the side to better listen to orders from Captain Marcant.

" _Specter Squadron, be on high alert! Some of the Rebel fighters are attempting to destroy the bridge. Divert your fire to protect the command staff!"_

"This is Specter-Five. I'm heading there right now. Rebel scum won't know what hit them."

" _Specter-Two here! X-Wings are all around me! I won't be able to—!"_

Jereque closed his eyes for a second when he heard the all-too-familiar sound of the static cut-off when a fighter was destroyed mid-communication. He refocused on the matter at hand and sped from the front of the _Equinox_ to the command deck, seeing three X-Wings swarming the immediate area. Practically the only reason the bridge hadn't been destroyed was the valiant effort of nearby turrets opening fire on the X-Wings to keep them from moving in a straight line long enough to lock on for a clear shot at the command staff.

As soon as he was in range, he started to open fire even before he locked on, sending one of the X-Wings spiraling out of control with its portside wings being knocked clean off. Normally, he would have put the Rebel down by continuing to fire at him, but he veered off to focus on the other two X-Wings.

The Rebels clearly realized what happened to their comrade as their efforts intensified to shoot him down was anything to go by.

Just as he was about to fire at one of the other X-Wings, his dashboard lit up, beeping rapidly to warn him of a missile lock. He expertly rolled his ship to the side out of the way of what he assumed was a proton torpedo. He continued to lock onto one of the X-Wings, but he received another warning about being locked on to. He stopped his attempt at offense and decided that flying evasively was his best chance at survival. He diverted the power from the lasers to the engine to put as much distance between him and the X-Wings as possible, hoping to at least lure them away from the command bridge.

He swerved his TIE fighter in various directions to keep the Rebels from locking onto him. "Specter-Five here! I need back up! I have two Rebels on my—scratch that, one of them just went back to attack the bridge!"

" _Specter-Five, this is Specter-Leader. I'm on my way! Hold steady!"_

"Got it." Jereque responded calmly, flinching when the red light of X-Wing lasers flared past him. That was too close for his tastes. He quickly directed his fighter upward, turning back around toward the bridge of the _Equinox_ and quickly trying to at least shake the Rebel fighter away from the command staff. "Take this, Rebel scum!" he roared as he opened fire on the X-Wing, but grit his teeth when he saw that the Rebel pilot must have activated the shields on his X-Wing. "Blast…" he mumbled as he sped away from the bridge to shake off the two fighters once more.

As he turned the ship around for another pass at the X-Wings, he heard his missile lock warning again and instantly spun out of control. In a rare moment of panic, he looked to both sides of his ship and sighed in a relief upon seeing intact wings. His ship shook from repeated laser impacts and he closed his eyes, making peace with his inevitable death.

The explosion and pain he was expecting never came. He opened his eyes again and saw the debris of two X-Wings floating past him.

" _Specter-Five, this is Specter-Leader. You're all clear."_

"Thanks…I-I thought I was dead."

" _Don't mention it, Specter-Five."_

Specter-Leader veered the TIE Fighter away from Jereque and flew back toward the bridge. _"Captain Marcant, Rebel fighters have been eliminated. Would you like us to stay and defend the bridge?"_

" _That will not be necessary, Specter-Leader. Thank you very much. You saved our lives back there."_

" _Actually, thank Specter-Five. The rest of us were held up by the Rebels, but he managed to get by and keep the Rebels at bay."_ Jereque's leader replied.

" _Tell him that we are in his debt."_

" _I will, Captain. Specter-Leader out."_ the pilot said, ending the conversation with Marcant. _"Specter-Five, the Captain said the command staff is in your debt."_

"Buy me some drinks, and we'll call it even." Jereque replied with a light laugh.

"Alright, enough chat…We have some Rebels to shoot down!"

"Yeah!" Jereque called out triumphantly.

Back on the bridge, Marcant continued to observe the hologram of the fighter battle. With the exception of that close call at the bridge, the X-Wings really hadn't done a whole lot of damage to the _Equinox_ as a whole. His main concern was the distress signal that one of the fighters sent out.

Marcant continued to observe the battle and sighed when he saw the holograms of larger Rebel ships showing up. He counted two Nebulon-B escort frigates, an Assault Frigate Mark-II, and even more starfighters. From the look of it, it was a respectable mix of X, Y, and A-Wings. The Y-Wings will certainly be the most dangerous of the three, so he quickly looked over to the comm station. "Inform all TIE wings that Rebel reinforcements have just arrived with Y-Wing bombers. Their new orders are to destroy them first. Tell the TIEs to focus on taking out those Y-Wings and the turrets to focus on the Rebel cruisers.

Marcant watched as the turrets fire toward the Rebel cruisers.

With Specter Squadron, their leader called out a quick status report on their fighters before engaging the Rebel reinforcements.

" _Specter-One here. All good to go. No damage on my fighter._ "

" _Specter-Three calling in. I'm out of ion torpedoes, but I can keep fighting."_

" _Specter-Four. My engines are a little beat up if the dashboard hasn't glitched on me. Just in case, I might have to retreat back to the ship."_

" _That's fine, Specter-Four. Get back to the hangar."_

Jereque tapped on his comm and said, "Specter-Five here. My TIE's a little roughed up, but I can keep going."

Specter-Leader held back a sigh and thought over what had happened. _We lost Specter-Two and now Specter-Four has to pull back for now…damn it._

Jereque tapped into the comms again and said, "Specter-Leader, what're our orders?"

Specter-Leader was shaken back into reality and said, "Engage the Rebel fighters. Focus on the Y-Wings. The other squadrons will have our backs, but be careful. That's an unusual number of starfighters for a simple ambush."

"Got it, Specter-Leader." Jereque replied, ending his comm with his leader and flew toward the Rebel fighters. He couldn't help but think that it was a little ironic that it was the Rebels who were overrunning the Imperials this time around, but he pushed it out of his mind as he opened fire at an X-Wing to break through to the Y-Wings. The X-Wing exploded, giving him plenty of distance between him and the Y-Wings. He locked onto one and fired a torpedo at it, watching it veer off, only to be torn apart by the impact of the torpedo alone. He then locked on to another Y-Wing and quickly dispatched it, but spun around when he received a warning that he was locked on to by an A-Wing. He grit his teeth and flew upwards, repeating the same maneuver that he did when he was protecting the bridge of the _Equinox_.

He flew right behind the apparently surprised A-Wing pilot and opened fire, smirking as he flew through the debris of the now-deceased pilot. "This is almost too easy!" he proclaimed with a light laugh in spite of what he was doing.

Jereque turned his ship around and brought his lasers to bear on the Y-Wings once more, taking one more down before his ship was jolted by the impact of lasers. He instantly shot the engines forward to knock off the target lock on him, but this pilot seemed to be more experienced than the rest. He did his best to knock off the aim of the Rebel pilot's targeting computer. "I got another Rebel on my tail! Anyone care to shake him off?!" he yelled into the comm as he maintained evasive maneuvers, but it was to no avail. _This guy must be a defector!_ he realized when he started trying many advanced Imperial-trained movements, but the Rebel pilot matched them almost perfectly to maintain his lock on the TIE Fighter.

" _I have you covered, Specter-Five."_ a familiar voice proclaimed. The Rebel was forced to steer away after Specter-Leader came in from above and fired a few shots at the engines of the X-Wing; disabling one of the engines.

Jerequ smirked and spun his ship around, opening fire on the more experienced X-Wing pilot, destroying it. _We may be deserters, but we are_ not _traitors!_ he thought angrily, satisfied at another kill…even if he needed help for that one. He and Specter-Leader focused on the last of their Y-Wing targets and finished off that particular squadron.

"Another one down!" Jereque proudly announced.

" _Specter-Five! Your ship looks like hammered poodoo. You should fall back before you get yourself killed!"_ one of Jereque's wing-mates said, concern in his voice.

"Don't worry, Specter-Three, I'm fine. Worry about yourself for once, man"

" _If we were in atmosphere, your engines would be smoking! I don't care if I'm not the leader, you should fly away while you still have a ch—arhg!"_

" _Specter-Three is down! I repeat, Specter-Three is down!"_

" _Specter Squad, scatter! Split up their attention and take down aa many of those scum as you can!"_

"Right!" Jerequ replied, flying to the side in an attempt to escape the Rebel fighters.

" _They're all over me! I can't shake them!"_

" _I got you covered, Specter-One! Specter-Five, get out of here! We'll cover you!"_

"I'm not leaving!" Jereque replied angrily, turning his TIE Fighter around and opening fire on an A-Wing that was right behind Specter-One.

" _Specter-Five, that's an order!"_

"With all due respect, I'm not leaving you behind!"

" _Listen to me for once, damn it!"_ Specter-Leader yelled as another Y-Wing fell victim to the lasers of the two ace pilots.

" _All wings, this is Captain Marcant speaking. You have our deepest gratitude. Your valiant efforts will be celebrated and your sacrifices remembered."_

Jereque grinned under his helmet and started to open fire at more and more of the Rebel starfighters, attracting a little too much attention from them.

" _Specter-Five, pull back!"_ Specter-Leader barked over the comm.

"We've got these guys on the run! Why should we pull out?" Jereque reasoned, still shooting down a few Rebels like it was nothing.

" _Specter-Five, listen to your sister for once and get the hell out of here!"_ Specter-Leader roared.

Jereque flinched from his sister pulling that card on him, and over the comms no less.

" _Wait what?" You two are—_ Specter-One mumbled in confusion, but was cut off by Specter-Leader.

" _Forget it. We gotta get out of here."_ Jereque's sister replied calmly.

"… _You two were family this whole time?!"_ Specter-One exclaimed in shock.

" _I said. Forget. It."_ Specter-Leader growled as she set as much power to her TIE's engines as possible, speeding away from the Rebel ships, with the other two members of her squadron following suit.

The Rebels were not done with their mission to eliminate the Imperials however. Being designed naturally for speed, the A-Wings quickly caught up with the remnants of Specter Squadron. _"Attention Imperials! You may have caused us a lot of trouble, but if you surrender…we are willing to show mercy. You have five seconds to comply_ " one of the pilots said in a surprisingly professional manner, but it was quite obvious that he didn't want to give them the option.

"Attention, Rebel scum! You can take your mercy and shove it right up your—!"

" _Shut it, Specter-Five!"_

Jereque growled, but soon found himself chuckling at what he wanted to say. "…Exhaust port."

" _I'm just going to assume you won't surrender. Your burial, bucketheads."_

"Oh, that is IT!" Jereque roared, diving down and away from the A-Wings, only to sharply turn back up behind one of them and firing a torpedo at it. It was safe to say that the ship didn't survive.

"Specters! Get out of here! I'll cover you!" Jereque yelled as he locked on to another A-Wing and fired at it to keep the pilot off of his sister's TIE Fighter.

" _Specter-Five, you're the one who needs to get out of here, not me!"_ Jereque's sister replied, trying to turn around but was forced back when an A-Wing fired a missile at her. Fortunately, the pilot fired it too soon, so the torpedo didn't lock on, sending it flying uselessly out into space until it exploded without harming a single ship.

"My ship's taken too many hits. I won't be able to outrun these blasted Rebels anymore. I _can_ slow them down for you, however." Jereque explained as he drew the fire from more A-Wings.

" _But…Jereque…you can't!"_

"Can't what? Sacrifice myself to keep you and Specter-One alive?"

" _You're all I have left!"_

"You have the rest of the crew! Now get out of here! That's an order from your brother!"

" _I…I…"_

"NOW!"

Specter-Leader felt tears coming to her eyes, her stomach churning at the very _thought_ of leaving her brother to die alone, but she knew it would be useless. Looking at his TIE Fighter, he wouldn't be able to catch up with his wing-mates, and he would get left behind eventually.

Her heart dropping into her stomach, she said, "…Fine…I…I'll miss you, Jereque."

Jereque smiled sadly and said, "See you in the afterlife, sis. You too, Specter-One."

" _It was an honor, Specter-Five"_

The two TIE Fighters took off, leaving Jereque alone. He turned his ship around to face the incoming Rebel fighters. "Come on! Let's see what you scumbags have got!" he roared, opening fire on the nearest fighter, turning the ship into a flaming ball before the vacuum snuffed out the explosion's flame. "Come and get me, Rebel Scum!" he yelled, aiming at another fighter that was trying to go after his wing-mates and shooting it down.

He continued to keep the Rebels away from his wing-mates, taking out a disturbing number of Rebel ships until an X-Wing managed to get a successful lock on him and fire a torpedo at him, grazing the side of one of the wings. This sent him spiraling out of control, unable to shoot down any more TIE Fighters.

"Guess this is it! Never thought it'd end like this, huh? Huh, Alyssia!?" he exclaimed, tears finally beginning to pour from his eyes when the reality that he would never see his sister again hit him like a brick.

Specter-Leader closed her eyes and bit down on her lip to keep from breaking down right then and there when she heard Jereque continue to yell and curse at the Rebels until he was cut off mid-sentence, his voice replaced by static.

" _Specter-Leader…we should keep going."_ Specter-One said sadly.

"…Copy that." Specter-Leader replied, her voice cracking at the end.

The two survivors flew into the hangar just as the Assault Frigate exploded, and one of the Nebulon frigates began to suffer the full wrath of the Star Destroyer, forcing the two remaining frigates to retreat. Quickly, the remaining Rebel starfighters also escaped into hyperspace.

As the two pilots crawled out of their fighters, Specter-Four ran up to them and said, "There y'all are. Wait…where's Jereque?"

Specter-Leader swallowed her pain down and said, "He…He didn't make it."

"He didn't—…Damn it…He was a good pilot. I'm sorry for your loss, Alyssia."

"Don't be. He stayed behind to draw the Rebel fighters away while Specter-One and I retreated…we would probably all be dead were it not for him."

" _Then let's make sure his sacrifice was not in vain."_

"Yeah…c-can we stop talking about it?" Specter-Leader said, her voice cracking.

"Of course."

"How many pilots did we lose?"

"We're still working on a headcount, ma'am…I'm sorry for your—"

"I _know_ , Lukras…I know." Alyssia said, her tears freely flowing from underneath her helmet. "I…I just need a few moments alone." she said, walking away from the other survivors of her fractured squadron. She would be mourning her brother's death for quite some time, heroic sacrifice or not.

 **And that's a wrap for this chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed it!**


	18. Chapter 18

17 of 17

 **Alright, new chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 18: Research and Recovery**

After an unnecessarily long meeting with Ozpin and Ral, Ironwood and Winter stepped out of the elevator, heading out onto the ground floor.

"Respectfully sir, I personally believe those Imperials." Winter said a little nervously. _I am risking my career for something that even I find hard to believe…and I've actually been on their ship in space!_ she thought.

"I can't say I _don't_ believe them, but I'm not so sure if I _do_ believe them either." Ironwood said neutrally.

"Honestly, I feel that way too, but I cannot deny what I saw on board their ship. I was unbelievably close to the _moon_ , sir. No one on Remnant has ever been that close." Winter replied.

Ironwood stopped moving and turned to completely face Winter. "Specialist…do you have concrete evidence of this? No one will believe your story without it, even if it is just a photo."

Winter slowly shook her head. "No, but I wish I had thought of it. It's just…the shock of it…I could only stare at how close I was to the moon."

"I can only imagine." Ironwood said, wondering what the surface of the moon looked like up close.

"We should probably get back to Atlas. I believe that healing water left behind by the Imperials needs to get a status report." Winter said formally, turning away and walking out of the building and down the main pathway toward the docks.

"Yes. I had hoped I did not need to come here until my students headed over to Vale for the tournament." Ironwood replied, walking alongside Winter.

Winter nodded in understanding. "I had hoped my first visit back here would be to visit my sister."

"Ah, yes. Have you heard from her recently?" Ironwood asked as they neared their airship.

"No. Last I heard from her was her last concert. Some White Fang assassins tried to kill her. Fortunately, Mister Saffron was able to apprehend them."

Ironwood smiled and said, "He's very good at being in the right place at the right time, is he not?"

"Indeed." Winter replied, waiting on Ironwood to enter the airship first.

The Atlesian General entered the airship, heading for one of the seats and sitting down in it, strapping himself in. "Is there anything else you would like to tell me, Miss Schnee?" he asked.

Winter shook her head. "No sir. If I may, I would like some time to myself to think over all of this."

"Of course you can."

Winter saluted to Ironwood and then relaxed. "Sir." She walked to a different part of the airship and sat down, pondering what happened today. _To think that we believed they were with Torchwick…only to find out that they were also tracking him down. Now they're from space, where there are untold numbers of other Humans and even_ aliens _?! What happened?!_ she thought, mentally screaming in frustration at the end. She felt the familiar sensation of a ship lifting off the ground and strapped herself into a nearby seat. She patiently sat back and decided to wait for the long flight back to Atlas. _If only these things could go as fast as the Imperials' shuttle,_ she thought to herself. As she thought over many other things, her eyes slowly fluttered shut, the sweet refuge of sleep claiming her.

"This is not good! This is not good! This is not good!" Trio repeated over and over.

"Yeah, don't remind us!" Brenver spat back.

"It's Tray's fault we're even in this mess! You should've driven since you so _clearly_ know how to drive something that doesn't walk!" Trio retorted.

"Enough! It's really not that bad." Tray yelled at the two bickering soldiers. "Look. Everyone else is stopped, so we couldn't go anywhere no matter how much we want to. See the red light? It's not that different from air-speeder traffic…it's just on the ground…on wheels." he continued, gesturing up to a red traffic light.

It had been quite breath-taking, in a bad way, for the first few minutes of Tray's inaugural drive, but he found that he was soon getting the hang of it…kind of. He was mostly putting two and two together, even if more than a few people had to pass him in the other lane while sticking their hand out of their car and holding up a very familiar sign.

"Do you think that's how people say 'hi' around here?" Brenver asked with a slight chuckle as a car honked at them from behind when the light turned green and Tray struggled to get the car moving. Eventually, the car passed by them on the other lane, the passenger sticking his hand out of the window and holding up a single finger.

"Who knows." Tray said with a laugh of his own. "Maybe we should be good neighbors and wave back at them."

Brenver smirked at that and said, "I like the way you think, sir."

Tray continued to shakily drive down the road until they came to the hospital. There was a car that seemed to be a little more well-built than others, but then Tray's eyes were drawn to the markings on it. Emblazoned on the side of the vehicle was the symbol that Tray had seen in the Atlesian base. _Guess they really were looking after Taddrei,_ he thought as he pulled the car into a parking spot…only for him to end up double-parked. Knowing that they should only be in there for ten minutes at the most, he decided to not worry about taking up two parking spots too much. He opened the door and stepped out, slightly cringing on seeing just how bad a parking job he did.

"Well…'A' for effort." Brenver said cheerily as he stepped out of the car. He glanced over to the military vehicle for a moment, but decided to think nothing else of it.

Trio got out of the car and kicked at one of the tires. "I hate those things. They already have ships. Why not take the next step and just make speeders already?" he grumbled a little angrily.

"There's probably a good reason behind it, Trio. Now let's get Taddrei and get out of here." Tray replied, heading toward the hospital. Brenver and Trio followed him into the hospital.

From inside the Atlesian vehicle, two people sat inside it. However, these two individuals were wearing anything _but_ the Atlesian uniform.

"Are you sure that's them? We didn't really see their faces, you know."

"Shut up, Mercury. Cinder's never been wrong, and I don't see why she would start now. It's them. Besides, look at their armor. I'd recognize the big guy anywhere…all those tubes and that big backpack of his. You'd be blind if you lost that guy in a crowd if he's wearing that."

Mercury rolled his eyes and said, "If you say so, Emerald. I just don't see why we can't go take them out now. I mean come on! There's plenty of guns back here!" He gestured to the back seat, particularly the weapons of two unconscious Atlesian soldiers.

"Cinder's orders are clear: 'Keep an eye on those soldiers. Don't expose yourselves.' Remember?" Emerald replied, pulling out her Scroll and recording the three Imperials walking into the hospital.

"Does she really think she's going to get dirt on them or find some revolutionary secret that could ruin them by just spying on them like this? Honestly, I feel like we're just glorified stalkers more than anything." Mercury grumbled, opening the glove box and lowly whistling. "Helloooo beautiful." he said, pulling out a very nice-looking pistol.

"You know, coming from a thief, you really like getting your grubby hands on something that's not yours." Emerald droned, keeping her Scroll's camera focused on the Imperials until they disappeared into the hospital.

"Hey, you stole a pistol earlier today too, remember?" Mercury retorted, thinking back on Emerald stealing Brenver's blaster pistol during their fight.

Emerald rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever. They've gone inside, so we'll have to wait for them to come out." She lowered her scroll, ending the recording as she did. "…Gonna have to rip the audio out of this one." she mumbled.

After a few more minutes of bickering, Emerald slapped Mercury in the chest to get him to shut up. In spite of his protests, his gaze followed Emerald's pointed finger and saw the Imperials plus one more.

"Hey, isn't that the guy you almost killed today?" Mercury asked, grinning a little cheekily.

"Not now, asshat." Emerald droned, once more recording the Imperials.

From outside of the commandeered vehicle, the four Imperials emerged from the hospital. Trio showed surprising concern for Taddrei, making the young soldier throw his arm over Trio's shoulder.

"Trio, you really don't need to do this." Taddrei said as he was led out the door.

"Just…humor me for a bit, okay?" Trio said, his helmet just barely masking his concerned voice.

Taddrei winced from being slightly jolted by Trio's movement, but his cousin slowed down enough in a surprisingly touching manner.

Tray watched as Trio practically babied Taddrei, and held back a comment, or even a knowing smile. It seemed that there was a normal human being underneath that tough, hardened routine of his.

The four made their way back to their car, and Tray couldn't help but notice that the military vehicle had not moved. _Perhaps they were supposed to escort us?_ he thought, feeling that it was a little much. He pushed that thought out of his mind and looked over his shoulder. "You okay back there, Taddrei?" he asked.

Taddrei winced as he adjusted the way he was sitting, but he nodded. "Yeah…I'll be a lot better once Katlin takes a look at me though."

Tray held back a remark, but Brenver seemed to have read his mind. "I didn't know you felt that way about her, shiny."

Taddrei furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Nah. I'm a little young for her." He paused for a moment before speaking up. "Shiny?"

Tray turned around and started up the car as Brenver answered Taddrei's question about being called a shiny. "Your armor. It's shiny and new…Well, not anymore." the defective clone soldier said, a smirk on his face.

"It's not like I wanted this to happen." Taddrei muttered, looking down at the x-shaped cut across his chest armor. "I'm just glad that they didn't mess up my armor when they tried to put it back on."

"You're okay, and that's all that matters." Trio stubbornly stated, looking out the window.

Tray continued to drive through the streets until he looked at the rear-view mirror. "That car is following us." he said calmly.

"Big deal. They're escorting us." Trio replied.

"That's a little far back to be 'escorting' another vehicle." Tray retorted, pointing a thumb over his shoulder, but quickly planting his hand back on the steering wheel to correct himself, making the car jolt a little bit.

"Watch the road, you ass!" Trio angrily protested, looking over his shoulder when the car was stable again. He observed the car a little bit, but turned his head back ahead to avoid looking suspicious to their unwanted followers. "Yeah, that looks pretty sketchy, Lieutenant." he stated in agreement.

"I think you should go a little faster." Brenver suggested, looking at the Atlas vehicle behind them from the rear-view mirror.

"I can only go as fast as all this traffic will allow." Tray grumbled, making a turn when he could do so. He looked at the rear-view mirror and saw that their not-so-subtle follower made the same turn. He turned his eyes back to the road and continued to drive toward the airport parking lot. "This is gonna be rough." he mumbled to himself on seeing how many vehicles there were.

In the 'Atlesian escort,' Mercury and Emerald continued to follow the Imperials. "The airport? Why are they heading there? Don't they have their own ship or something?" Mercury asked.

"It's obviously landed there. But if it is…then I guess they made up with Atlas? But then why would they have broken into that base to break Torchwick out?" Emerald replied, not sure what the goal of the Imperials was supposed to be. First they broke Roman out of prison, then they attack him, Atlas catches them, and now they're just going wherever? Something just didn't add up in her mind.

"I think they're secretly part of Atlas. How else could you explain their weapons and armor? We don't know how advanced they _really_ are. For all we know, they have a base on the moon by now!" Mercury stated, calmly driving the vehicle with just one hand.

"You read too many comics, Merc. That crap's no good for you if you're just gonna try to blend real life and fantasy together." Emerald droned, slightly agreeing with Mercury about how the Imperials are likely with Atlas. "It still doesn't explain why they freed Torchwick…" Emerald added, not aware of the full story of what happened on practically the first day the Imperials arrived on Remnant.

"Something tells me that freeing that idiot was not on purpose. Remember that news reel that showed them breaking into that base's armory? Who knows what they could have taken if that's the case?" Mercury replied, shrugging like he didn't have a care in the world.

"It just seems…too weird, even for Atlas. Why not just announce their weapons and armor. I mean come on! You saw what they were firing. I'm no gun nut, but even I could tell that they weren't firing Dust rounds at us." Emerald retorted, thinking of the strange weapons and armor of the Imperials. "…Their helmets kind of looked like buckets now that I think about it."

Mercury looked over at Emerald in shock. "You too?! Oh good, I thought I was the only one!" he exclaimed.

"Don't get too used to it." Emerald said as she watched the Imperials turn into the airport parking lot. "This is probably the part where a spy would drive on like they weren't just tailing a car." she stated.

Mercury nodded and drove past the parking lot. "So did we really get anything out of that? I mean, all I saw is that they seem to care about their own, but what military squad isn't like that?"

"A stupid one." Mercury replied rather coldly as he drove the car away. "Speaking of soldiers…what do we do with these two?" he asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to the unconscious Atlas soldiers.

"I say we take them to Cinder. She could probably get at least something out of them. If not…eh, it's not like they'll be missed, what with being in a foreign kingdom and all." Emerald replied, knowing full well what their boss would do if she had no use for the soldiers. "At the very least, we can use their uniforms…if we can even fit in those things."

"I ain't putting on that getup if my life depended on it." Mercury mumbled as he drove the car away from the airport. "So we should probably report this to the boss, huh?"

"What else would we do with this? Post it to the web like everyone else has been doing wherever those guys show up?" Emerald deadpanned.

As the car drove off, the four ex-Imperials got out of their own, heading back for the same door they exited the airport terminal through. The same clerk noticed them and made sure to wave them through, taking note of the fourth one but assuming they were there to pick him up. Judging from the fact that Trio was practically carrying Taddrei, it wasn't hard to assume that the younger man was injured in some way.

The four walked out onto the airstrip and made their way to the shuttle, boarding it as soon as they could. Tray quickly went back to the cockpit and sat down in his usually place. "We have Taddrei back. Time to head back to Ral's home."

"Yeah…about that." Shejas replied.

Tray groaned, thinking something was wrong. "What now?" he asked in frustration.

"Oh no, it's nothing wrong, boss." Shejas said reassuringly.

Tray sighed in relief and slumped down in his chair. Ever since they arrived on Remnant, it had been one thing after another, and he felt that they were woefully unprepared for this scouting mission.

"While you were gone, I picked up a transmission from a probe droid." Shejas explained, pointing at a display. "The code belongs to the _Equinox_."

Suddenly, Tray's worries went away. "We need to find that probe. Surely, we can tell the others what's happened to us!" he said, feeling hope for the first time in the past few days.

"My thoughts exactly, dude. It's still a day away from reaching the planet, so we still have plenty of time to intercept the signal and make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands." Shejas replied with a smile of his own, starting up the launch sequence.

Tray started to lightly chuckle, finally feeling that there was a chance of getting word to what was basically his home now. "Even better." he said, a grin still on his face.

"You know what this means, right?" Shejas asked, his smile fading a little bit.

Tray noticed the subtle change in his friend and looked over to him. "What?"

"We'll have a choice to make." Shejas stated. "Either tell Captain Marcant that Remnant is a good world to try starting a new home on, or say that it's too dangerous. Either one will have consequences." he explained.

Tray was silent, pondering over Shejas' words as the shuttle lifted off. "I don't know about you, but I don't think Ral will like it one bit if we bring our fellow deserters here, and neither will the natives. I mean…how hard must it be for just a few of them to accept that there's life out there that's very different from them?" Shejas said, deciding to continue speaking. "The sudden news will likely not go down well with the people. My guess is that they'll either be very scared of us, or beyond pissed at us for various reasons."

"But if we tell the Captain that Remnant is not a good place to live, we will have to continue searching for a new home." Tray stated.

"…Pretty much, yeah." Shejas said somberly.

Tray sighed, feeling his hope over the news of the probe droid being trumped by the upcoming hard decision he would need to make.

"I've had the past few days to think about this, and now felt as good a time as ever. I just thought that you should know what I think of all this. Personally, I say that Remnant isn't ready for people like us. On the other hand, the _Equinox_ will desperately need to find a place to land sooner or later." Shejas finished, guiding the shuttle to fly away from the city of Vale and toward Ral's homestead.

Tray sighed and said, "I don't think this is a decision that only I should make. When the time comes, I think it's best that we decide as a group."

"Democracy? What is this, the Republic?! Blasphemy!" Shejas said dramatically, cracking a grin to try lightening the mood at least a little bit.

Tray rolled his eyes and said, "You're a piece of work, you know that?"

Shejas shrugged and said, "It's who I am. Can't get me without the full package, ya know? Besides, you just got a big weight dumped on your shoulders by yours truly, so I wanted to make up for it a bit."

Tray let out a little puff of air through his nose and just barely —his main response to Shejas' humor and monotonously said, "Thanks for that by the way. It's bad enough just trying to keep us alive, but knowing that I'll either have to decide to tell the entire crew to have to keep searching for a new home or forever change the history of an entire planet."

"Glad to help out, boss." Shejas replied with a smirk as the shuttle flew out over the forest.

"We should keep an eye out for another one of those Nevermore things." Tray replied, turning on the life-sign scanner to do just as he said.

"Yeah. I'd hate to have to fly away from one of those things again." Shejas replied with a dramatic shudder.

An hour later, the shuttle flew toward the cliff that Ral's home was concealed in. As the ship neared it, the hidden hangar door opened, and Shejas quickly flew in, the door closing back like nothing happened to it. The shuttle landed and the ramp lowered.

"Let's go see if Katlin can do anything about Taddrei. See if the locals missed anything for his wounds." Tray mumbled as he stood up and left the cockpit. He walked into a holding area and saw Taddrei sitting down a little awkwardly, with Trio not very far away from his cousin. It seemed that Trio cared about him after all. "How are you holding up, Taddrei?" Tray asked as he walked over to the young man.

Taddrei winced as he straightened his back. "I'd feel better if we had some bacta."

"We lost that, remember? All we have is kolto now." Trio muttered.

"I'll take it." Taddrei said, holding out a hand to Tray. "Can you help me up, Lieutenant?"

Tray nodded and grabbed the man's hand to pull him up off his seat. Taddrei groaned in discomfort from being pulled up, but he didn't complain or otherwise protest. "Thanks." Taddrei said, letting go of Tray's hand and turning toward the exit. "I want to see if I can walk without help. Just…be ready to catch me." he added.

Trio was about to protest, but Tray looked at the Heavy Trooper with a warning glance, making him shut up for now.

Taddrei took a few cautious steps forward, then a few more. Slowly, his confidence grew and he began to try walking more naturally, but winced and decided to not push himself. Trio sighed and gently patted on Taddrei's back. "I gotcha." he said, carefully guiding Taddrei as his cousin wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

The cousins were the first two people off the shuttle, with the engineers and Katlin standing nearby. The medic seemed to be fine now thanks to the kolto they still had. Katlin quickly ran over to Taddrei and said, "How bad is it?"

"Not too bad. Got some treatment from Atlas." Taddrei said, chuckling weakly. "Some of your kolto would be nice though." he added.

"It's on the shuttle." Katlin stated, turning to lead the Private back inside the ship. "I'll take it from here." she added, walking to the shuttle. The rest of the squad was about to exit the ship, but quickly stepped aside to let Katlin and Taddrei board the shuttle. Once the two of them passed by, the squad began to file out of the shuttle, feeling exhausted to various degrees. Tray and Shejas were the last ones off the shuttle and Tray walked quite slowly, lost in his thoughts over the decision he would have to make in the future.

"You alright, man?" Shejas asked, looking over his shoulder to Tray.

"Yeah…Just got a lot to think about right now." Tray replied with a sigh.

"Thinking…not really my strong suit." Shejas said jokingly.

"All you do is think, Shejas…" Tray pointed out, a small smile on his face.

"Who, me? Nah, you must have me mistaken for someone else."

Tray and Shejas continued their banter for a bit until they opened up a door and saw the rest of their squad mates. Most notably, they saw them standing around Manrica, who was wrapped up in fresh bandages. Tray slowly walked up to the burned man and said, "Can you hear me, Manrica?"

The thief chuckled and spoke in a slightly raspy voice. "I'm burned, not in a coma, sir."

"Did the kolto work?" Tray asked softly.

"Pfft…does it look like it worked?" Manrica said sadly.

"Does it hurt?" Tray asked, wondering if there was anything else Katlin could do to ease his pain if that was case.

"Well…they gave me something for the pain. I can't feel my legs…I can barely feel my lips." Manrica replied with a light-hearted chuckle.

Trio felt as if he didn't really belong and walked out the door, Renbra and Soltrev soon following suite. Brenver looked at Tray for a moment before he too left the room, leaving just Tray, Shejas, and Manrica in the room.

"You…should probably have this talk alone." Shejas said a little awkwardly, walking out of the room and shutting the door.

The moment the door closed, Manrica made a shushing sound. "I know exactly how this whole deal goes. No, you're not sorry this happened to me, you're probably downright pissed this happened. It's not your fault, it's mine. I wandered off like an idiot because I couldn't help but try out Remnant's night life without knowing what I would be getting myself into."

"I…was actually about to say I'm glad you're still alive." Tray replied with a light chuckle.

"Oh…well, either way, I'm the one who should apologize for being an idiot." Manrica replied. His face would have noticeably reddened, but the bandages hid it well.

"At the very least, something good came out of all this." Tray stated, sitting down in a nearby chair to be eye level with his most heavily wounded subordinate.

"Hard to believe anything good came out of this, but go on."

"First off, Atlas is no longer after us. And second of all, I think Ral trusts us now." Tray answered.

"…What?" Manrica asked in surprise.

Tray gave a light smile and said, "It's a long story."

"Sounds like it if you pulled off two things that I thought wouldn't be happening anytime soon." Manrica commented.

Tray nodded and paused for a moment, deciding how he should approach what he was going to ask of the thief. "Manrica…do you think the _Equinox_ should try to make a home here on Remnant?" he asked, feeling it was best to get to the point.

"Hell no." Manrica replied instantly. "Are you blind? Grimm, Aura, Dust…This place is weird."

"Fair enough. I just don't think it's fair for me to make that decision alone."

"Good point." Manrica said in agreement. He lightly tilted his head and said, "You should go to the others."

"Yeah…" Tray said, standing up from his seat and walking to the exit. Before opening the door, he looked over his shoulder to look back at at the klepto. "Talk to you later, Manrica." he said, opening the door and walking through.

"Yeah…see ya." Manrica mumbled even though the door already shut.

Tray quietly sighed when he closed the door and looked ahead to see Vermeil standing in front of him. "Uh…hey there, little guy."

"You people were on the news." Vermeil stated.

"Well…we did cause a bit of a scene." Tray replied, hoping he didn't tell the kid something that Ral would take issue with.

"…Your armor looks so cool!" Vermeil exclaimed suddenly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Standing next to Atlas soldiers and their robots, you guys just looked so much…cooler! Sure it's kinda plain when it comes to what you carry, but still! I don't think anyone on Remnant had gear like yours!" Vermeil said, looking up at Tray with starry eyes.

Tray, not being used to anyone being _this_ enthusiastic about speaking to an Imperial Officer, had no idea how to react to this. "…You could say that." he said cryptically.

"So which kingdom are you guys with? Vale? Atlas? Ooh! Is it Mistral?"

"We don't belong to any of the kingdoms. We're our own little group who just happened to build some good stuff." Tray said. Sure, the Empire was anything but little, but as mass produced as the equipment of their foot soldiers was, it was still pretty high quality, especially once one starts to look at the gear given to Stormtroopers. Say what one will about the Empire, it had a solid military, all things considered.

"So you're mercenaries? Wow." Vermeil said, really not helping his fanboy attitude.

"Not exactly. We are no longer affiliated with any kingdoms or governments. The only real law we have are common laws and whatever orders our leader gives." Tray explained, feeling it was alright as long as he kept everything vague.

"That. Sounds. Awesome!" Vermeil exclaimed, almost bouncing on his feet as he listened intently to what Tray was telling him.

 _Why is he so suddenly interested in us?_ Tray thought, feeling that this boy changed rather quickly. "Listen…I have a lot to do right now and I have to take care of it. Perhaps we can talk about our group at a later time?" he suggested.

Vermeil looked at Tray curiously but nodded. "Sure!" he chirped, waving at the deserter as he walked away.

Tray waved back at Ral's son and then turned in the opposite direction to go find anyone from his squad. As he wandered the halls of the cliffside home, he heard a voice behind him. "Lieutenant."

Tray turned around and saw Elize walking toward him. "We need to talk." the woman said, stopping in front of him.

"About…?"

"The technology here on Remnant. It's best if we speak…in private." Elize whispered, tilting her head to point out a few of the orphans running past them. "I think the shuttle would be a good place to discuss some things that the other engineers and I have discovered."

"Lead the way." Tray stated, knowing that he could always simply just gather the rest of his squad together at a later time.

The two Imperials made their way back to the hangar and Elize led Tray into the shuttle. "Alright, we're here. What'd you have to tell me?" Tray asked when the woman turned around.

"Some of the kids here gave us a few things to read over and look at. It took some work with the older ones, but we can now somewhat read these people's language." Elize explained.

"Great. What'd you find out about this?" Tray asked, wondering where the engineer was going with this.

"We've mostly been reading about the history of their world, as well as stories about these…Huntsmen."

"What about them?"

Elize paused for a moment and said, "They're…revered the same way that the Jedi were back when the Republic was still a thing. They train at an early age, though not as early as the Jedi did, and they do this for a long time. As far as I can tell, some people have started training to become a Huntsman as early as eight years old…and they graduate from one of these Huntsmen Academies around the age of twenty."

Tray's eyebrows went up in surprise. "It certainly doesn't sound like an easy career to pursue if that's the case."

"Most people start at thirteen however." Elize interrupted.

"And this helps us…how?" Tray asked neutrally.

"It's interesting to look at their culture, but this does play into what I have to say." Elize said, her cheeks reddening a bit from realizing that she was getting off track.

"Go on." Tray said expectantly.

"Their weapons are…well, they're just marvelous works of mechanical engineering to be honest. I can't say I've seen finer blueprints for so many different types of weapons. Would you believe the clever ways Huntsmen in the past have worked a second weapon into their primary one?" Elize said quickly, her eyes glistening a bit as she spoke.

"I'm sorry?" Tray asked, not sure where the woman was getting at.

"Sorry about that." Elize apologized, chuckling a little nervously. "I get carried away when I talk about this kind of stuff. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that these Huntsmen have and make weapons that put just about anything in the galaxy to shame. Sure they don't use blasters and instead rely on ballistics projectiles, but the craftsmanship behind each of their weapons is superb. I'd dare say that if they used blasters instead of what they call Dust Bullets, their weaponry would surely be far superior to almost anything we can make."

"I'm sorry, Elize, but I don't understand." Tray said a little nervously.

"Don't you get it? These people have the potential to rival even the Jedi when it comes to their weapons. Their Aura basically nullifies the need for any real armor, they have what's basically superpowers, and their weapons are nigh indestructible! They're the perfect warriors in every single way I can see!" Elize exclaimed. "The fact that none of you have died yet is honestly a miracle. I think that if they were fighting at their absolute best, none of you would be standing here."

Tray nervously swallowed from the thought of that. The possibility that people like Winter and Torchwick were holding back and still nearly defeating just about everyone but Trio was a sobering thought. He even had a feeling that they'd be dead were it not for Ral's assistance. "…Was there anything else you needed to tell me?" he asked.

Elize shook her head. "Besides the fact that blueprints can only do so much and we'd really appreciate an actual weapon, even if it's just something from one of the militaries, I don't have anything else to tell you. For what it's worth, sir, the others and I think we should try making a home here. That choice is obviously up to you though since you and the other soldiers have the most real experience with this planet compared to us, who've simply dealt with stories, concepts, and blueprints."

Tray nodded and stepped away from the enthusiastic engineer with even more troubling thoughts in his mind. Had they been able to escape and even survive the fights through sheer dumb luck alone? Or was it their armor that kept them alive? A lot of different questions started to plague his mind as he pulled out his comm and decided to call in his squad to meet back in the shuttle's hold.

A few minutes later, everyone but Manrica were gathered around in the room.

"Why'd you call us together?" Trio asked with a huff. "I thought we were supposed to rest." he added just a little bit too angrily.

"If you would shut your daggum mouth for just a second, then maybe Tray would be able to tell us." Soltrev droned as he absentmindedly pulled out his vibroknife and began to inspect it.

Trio growled at the marksman, but didn't say anything, just wanting to go to bed.

"Ahem. Everyone, Shejas here brought something to my attention and I think it's only fair that you hear it as well." Tray announced, his squad paying attention like proper soldiers. It seemed that military discipline never really goes away, even among deserters.

"Like that Zabrak ever says anything serious." Trio grumbled.

"It was." Tray said sternly. "Now if you would please stop interrupting, that would be great." Trio defensively held up his hands, getting the point. "Thank you." Tray droned.

Tray looked over his squad for a moment and continued. "Shejas conveyed that we'll have one of two choices to make once we reestablish communications with the _Equinox_ : tell Captain Marcant that it is not safe to establish a residence here or that we believe it will work out. If we were still a part of the Empire, I doubt any officer would hesitate to make a unilateral decision, but we're not the Empire and I'm not like that. I'd like to hear what everyone thinks and put it up to a vote." he explained.

"What about Manrica and the eggheads?" Renbra asked.

"Their unofficial leader, Elize, has told me that she thinks we should give it a shot, but she admitted that she and the others don't have enough personal experience with Remnant to really make an informed decision. Manrica has already made his opinion known to me. He's completely against it since…well it's not hard to imagine why he wants off Remnant." Tray replied.

"So you want opinions? What is this, the Republic?" Trio said with a scoff.

"Hey! That's my line!" Shejas protested jokingly, but Taddrei slapped one of his hands over Trio's mouth to keep his cousin quiet.

"Yes, Trio. It's not fair that a decision like this fall down to one man. One choice will keep all of us looking for a different place to call home while the other choice will hopefully give us a home…at the expense of forever changing the history of Remnant, whether our true identity is discovered or not." Tray answered.

Trio pushed Taddrei's hand off of his mouth and said, "Well I'm all for having the crew come here. Who cares what these people think? What are they gonna do, send a fleet to take us out? Besides, I can't be the only one who wants to see the look on that General dickhead's face when he sees how his military isn't as advanced as he thinks, right?"

Katlin rolled her eyes and said, "How fitting for one as thoughtless and abrasive as you." She looked at Tray and said, "Permission to speak freely, sir?" Tray nodded his approval and Katlin decided to give her thoughts. "Look at the people. The racial tensions between Humans and Faunus seem to be quite high…over just a tail or an extra set of non-Human ears. I'd hate to see how these people would react to a Wookie, a Zabrak, or even non-humanoids like the Hutts. I don't believe that it would be a good idea to suddenly expose them to a galaxy of alien life. Culturally and technologically, the people just aren't ready for that kind of knowledge. These people can't even leave their own planet yet, so I'm going to have to say that I think we should move on and never come back."

Renbra looked at Katlin and said, "She's not wrong. I agree. Besides, have you seen how these people fight? Just one of these Huntsmen fellows could slaughter goodness knows how many of us if he or she sneaks into whatever we build on the surface, if we piss off the locals."

"Maybe _you_ guys would die, but _I_ could at least hold them off." Trio bragged, cracking a prideful grin.

"Trio, we've had to run from every single fight we've gotten into, you included. You've seen Manrica. You've seen what happened to Taddrei. We can't beat them in a man-to-man fight, and there are who knows how many of these Huntsmen if there's a whole new batch of them every year from all four of their kingdoms." Renbra replied. "What you do, that's not 'holding them off.' You're just the one who's able to fight them long enough in close quarters without getting hurt. Everyone else gets hurt in a fight." he added with a growing frown.

Trio opened his mouth to retort but froze and closed his mouth, relaxing on the crate he was sitting on. "Whatever. You guys are just jealous 'cuz you get your asses kicked."

"Trio, you lost to someone that's half your size." Shejas droned, though a ghost of a smile was etched across his face as he waited on the heavy trooper's reaction to that.

"Enough." Tray said sternly, not wanting to waste time on sheer argument this whole time. "Everyone, just state your opinions and we'll civilly discuss them after everyone has spoken their mind on this issue." he said with finality. Deciding it would be best to ask people directly to speak up, he looked at Soltrev and said, "What do you think, Soltrev?"

"I think we should give it a shot here."

"And would you like to explain why?" Katlin said, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"I like it here. It reminds me of home." Soltrev replied simply, going back to cleaning off the blade of his vibroknife and ignoring everything else going on.

"Alright…Taddrei, what do you think?" Tray replied, ending any chances of Katlin or Renbra badgering Soltrev for his admittedly personal reasoning.

"I think we should make a home here, and if I may be so bold, I think we need to help these people. All this talk of racial tensions and the threat of Grimm…I don't think I could stand by and watch them be torn apart from within and without. The fact that we can build a home while helping these people out is just a bonus in my eyes."

"We shouldn't be—" Renbra protested, but a look from Tray shut him up.

Tray looked over to Brenver and said, "What about you, Brenver?"

Brenver had kept his helmet on, but he slowly removed it and looked Tray in the eye. "It's not my place, sir. Good soldiers follow orders, _not_ give opinions."

"Very well, I won't press you into making a choice." Tray replied, with Brenver nodding in response.

Tray looked at the last person in the group to speak up. "Shejas, what's your vote?" he asked of his best friend.

"I think…that if we choose to make a home and the locals have a problem, they can shove it. These aren't our people so we don't owe them anything. We should think about our crew, our family, first more than some random people who don't even know what a blaster is." he said, glancing over to Katlin. "I don't know about you, but when we were at that school, I saw Faunus walking freely around campus, walking and talking with humans like they didn't have huge ears on top of their head or a tail swishing around. I can _tell_ that the younger folks don't care about race the way the adults do. I get the feeling that the average person is trying to fix the racial tensions between human and Faunus and not try to push a further wedge between them. I bet that if they were to see someone like me or someone much weirder like a Hutt, they'd realize how petty their discrimination is. The last thing I'm going to say is this: Remnant is the first good world that we've found. The _Equinox's_ supplies won't last forever, and I highly doubt we'll find an almost perfect world like Remnant to settle down on. We could always claim an abandoned continent or island and build our home in secret and leave if it just doesn't work out." Shejas finished, conviction in his voice.

Tray smiled as Shejas finished and looked at Katlin and Renbra. "I'd say that our decision is rather clear."

"With all due respect sir, how exactly will we tell the _Equinox_ to come here? As nice as the vote was, this decision does us no good if we can't even do anything about it." Brenver asked curiously. "In case you forgot, our comms are down and the hyperdrive is too damaged to safely use." he pointed out.

"Shejas recently picked up a signal from one of our probe droids, so it must be looking for us. We can hopefully use it to contact the _Equinox_." Tray explained simply.

"Really?" Taddrei asked in surprise. A smile came to his face, but he winced from his wound and leaned back to relax himself. "Ow…It's about time we got some good news."

"The probe should be reaching the planet sometime tomorrow so we'll need to be ready to move at a moment's notice to keep it from falling into the wrong hands or be destroyed by the Grimm." Tray said. "We obviously won't need the whole squad, so if anyone wants to come along with me and Shejas early tomorrow to pick up the probe droid, just let me know before the end of the day. Now go get some rest. Dismissed." he said with finality, standing up and making to leave the shuttle. The squad dutifully following his order to seek rest.

By the end of the hour, the entire crew of the survey team were in spare rooms, falling asleep at their own pace. Tray was the last one to be claimed by sleep, plagued by doubts over whether their choice was the right one. He did take comfort in the fact that he and the rest of the _Equinox_ could really do some good; redeem themselves for the tyrannical deeds of the Empire they once proudly served.

 **And that's a wrap. See y'all in the next chapter!**


	19. Chapter 19

Page 9 of 9

 **Alright, got a new chapter, hope y'all enjoy! I wanted to release this with the premiere of Volume 4, but I guess I** **'** **ll have to settle for the week it** **'** **s released.**

 **I don** **'** **t own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter** **19: Respite**

Tray slowly woke up early the next morning, feeling quite refreshed. He quietly got out of his bed and started to put on his uniform, catching a quick whiff of the smell as he put it on. _We should clean these up soon._ he thought, looking at the rest of his squadmates in the room. Trio, Taddrei, and Brenver shared this room with him, but the two cousins were out cold in their sleep. Brenver was just waking up and soon slipped into the body glove that stormtroopers wore under their armor.

"Good morning, Brenver." Tray muttered, still a little sleepy as he walked past the former clone soldier.

"Good morning, sir." the clone replied curtly, saluting Tray as he passed.

Tray shook his head and said, "No need for that, Brenver. We're not in the military anymore."

Brenver paused for a moment and said, "Old habits die hard, sir."

"Heh…I know the feeling." Tray replied with a quiet chuckle as he quietly made his way out of the room and looked down either end of the hall. He stepped out into the hallway and tried to make his way to the shuttle. As much as he disliked them, he found himself having hunger pangs for some ration-bars. He made his way to the shuttle, and soon entered the hangar the shuttle was landed in.

As he was walking up the ramp to the shuttle, the hangar doors opened and showed an airship flying in. Tray raised an eyebrow on seeing it, but figured that it was just Ral and walked right on into the shuttle. He found the crate that the ration bars were held in and he pulled out two. He opened one of them and began to slowly nibble at it as he made his way back out of the shuttle. He looked at the now-grounded airship and saw a few people walking out—Ral included. His curiosity piqued, he headed straight toward the Jedi Knight.

Ral saw Tray approaching and turned to face him. "What is it, Imperial?"

Tray briefly glanced at the four younger people and felt that it would be better to use the Jedi's fake name. "Jonquil, who are these kids?"

"These kids…are students at Beacon. They all live here and I brought them home for the weekend." Ral replied, gesturing to the four Beacon students behind him.

"I see. Well then, I'd better let you get back to it." Tray replied, turning around and walking away.

"Nice to meetcha, soldier guy!" one of the teens excitedly said, though Tray was nearly out of hearing range.

Tray made his way back to the room and walked in to see Taddrei already up and about. "Are you sure you should be walking around like this?" he asked in slight concern, looking at his youngest subordinate's chest.

Taddrei looked up at Tray and grinned. "It'll be worth it if I can find something like shaving cream and a feather." he said mischievously.

Tray raised an eyebrow and was about to ask the Stormtrooper what he meant until he saw that Trio was still fast asleep. The most notable thing was that the Heavy Trooper's hand was hanging off the edge of his bed, his palm up. "Ohhhh…I get it," Tray said with a knowing smile. "First the drawing on his face, now this? You're quite the prankster when it comes to your cousin." he added with a little bit of a cheeky grin of his own.

"He knows I love him." Taddrei said with a smile. He finally found something that resembled shaving cream and he shook up the bottle. "Now we just need something to tickle his nose with." he said, looking for something that would fit the bill. He finally found a feather duster and grinned evilly. "Perfect." he whispered under his breath.

Taddrei walked back over to Tray with the two items in his hands. He sprayed the shaving cream onto Trio's still outstretched hand and waited for a moment to make sure the sound and feeling of it didn't wake up his cousin. Taddrei then smirked evilly as he started to very gently tickle at Trio's nose.

It didn't take much for Trio's nose to crinkle and he raised his cream-covered hand to wipe at his nose. Taddrei quickly pulled the duster away and waited for his cousin to calm down. Once the larger man did so, the younger man started tickling at his nose again. This time, Trio growled in his sleep and slapped at the feather duster, but Taddrei pulled it away just in time for the Heavy Trooper to slap his own face and smash the shaving cream against himself.

Trio's eyes shot open from the cool wetness hitting his face as well as the fact that he just hit himself. He saw Taddrei and looked at his hand to see the shaving cream and he glared at Taddrei. "Oh, you—come here!" he angrily yelled, leaping out of his bed and rushing at Taddrei, who was already running out the door. "Don't think I won't kick your ass just cuz you've got a few new scratches!" he roared, his angered profanity's fading as he chased Taddrei down the hallway.

Tray quickly stepped aside to let Trio rush past him and watched at the two cousins very quickly ran out of the room. A ghost of a smile on his face, he looked at Brenver and the two shrugged nonchalantly at each other.

Brenver stretched his hands up to the ceiling and said, "So what now, sir? Do we just rest? Goodness knows we need it."

"Yes. Shejas and I will go check something out however. The rest of you can stay and sit this one out." Tray said. He turned to the door and walked back out, looking for the guest room that Shejas and some of the others shared.

As he walked through the halls, he saw one of the teens that was with Ral from earlier. The boy smiled brightly and said, "Hey there!" he chirped to Tray excitedly.

"Uh…hello." Tray replied, wondering why the teen was talking to him.

"You're one of those guys who came onto Beacon's campus yesterday, aren't you." the young man stated more than he asked.

"One of them, yes." Tray replied curtly, starting to walk past him.

The teen lightly frowned as Tray brushed him off and turned around to follow him. "Aww, come on. Not even an introduction?" he asked, a smile still on his face.

"You first." Tray replied with the same curtness as before.

"Oh…Okay, I'm Sol." the young man replied, still smiling brightly…almost disturbingly so.

"Tray. Nice to meet you, Sol." Tray said, not feeling up to talking to someone outside of his squad at the moment.

"You're not big on talking, are you…just like one of your other guys. He was wearing full armor and was walking to the hangar. I bet you guys are just really strict or something." Sol stated, happily walking alongside Tray.

"That would be our pilot." Tray stated, not wanting to say anything more about Shejas.

Sol frowned on hearing concise reply after concise reply. Taking the hint, he finally shrugged and said, "Well, it was nice talking to ya, Tray!" he said happily, turning around and going in the direction he was originally heading in.

Tray sighed in relief on seeing the boy walk away and continued toward the hangar. When he entered the large, expansive space, he saw the ramp to the shuttle was lowered and figured that Shejas was already aboard. Early as always. he thought as he made his way toward the shuttle and up the ramp. He soon entered the cockpit and saw Shejas taking off his helmet. "Hey, boss. Mind if Ral catches a ride with us to get to the probe droid?" he asked, flashing a cheeky grin over his shoulder before pressing the button that would raise the ramp.

"Is "no" an option?" Tray commented, sitting down in his usual seat.

"I'm right here, Lieutenant." Ral droned, making Tray stiffen up a bit on realizing that the Jedi heard that.

"Good morning to you too, Ral." Tray mumbled, gritting his teeth a bit from being caught like that by someone who could very easily kill him with just a thought. Granted, normal Jedi didn't do that, but Ral clearly expressed his dislike of their former allegiance.

Shejas flew the shuttle out of the hangar and looked over to Tray. "Hey, boss, could you try getting a lock on the probe's signal? Thanks."

Tray nodded and started to have the ship's censors search for the comm frequency that belonged to the probe droid detected from yesterday. Soon enough, the very familiar sound of a probe droid was heard in the comm's speakers. "Found it. It's homing in our location. Let's meet it halfway and pick it up. Ral…I hate to ask this, but could you man the laser station for now? I'd hate to see what a second encounter with a Nevermore would do to the shuttle." he said, looking at the Jedi when he addressed him.

Ral silently nodded and got up from his passenger seat and sat in the seat that controlled the laser turrets at the front of the shuttle.

Thankfully, almost an hour later when they neared the probe droid's location, no Nevermores attacked them.

"We're above the droid now." Tray stated.

Shejas nodded and lowered the shuttle for a landing in a nearby clearing. Tray got up from his seat and grabbed his blaster on his way out of the cockpit. Ral got up and followed him. "I'd hate to see you come this far and get devoured by Beowolves by yourself." he stated as he followed Tray to the exit ramp.

The shuttle landed and the ramp lowered with Tray walking out even as it continued to lower down. Soon after Tray walked out, the probe droid approached them. Tray pointed to the shuttle and said, "Come on. Let's get you to safety." The droid obeyed his orders and floated up into the shuttle. Tray and Ral followed it back into the shuttle and the ramp raised back up. Tray felt a wave of relief wash over him on seeing their only chance of contacting the Equinox finally in his grasp and he said, "Droid, open up a channel with the Equinox."

The probe droid made a series of beeps and whirrs as it sent a communication signal according to Tray's orders.

Tray sighed in pure joy when the probe droid let out one last signal and a short burst of static was heard before a voice came through.

" _Lieutenant Tray? Is that you?_ _"_ the voice asked. Tray didn't recognize it, but hearing another voice was comforting, especially since he knew the man's face.

"Yes. Can you please let the captain know that I'm finally able to send a communique to him? I'm sure a report is well over-due at this point."

" _Of course. One moment, Lieutenant._ _"_ the voice replied, with the comm going silent for a few moments.

"Hopefully your captain is a fraction as benevolent as you are, Imperial." Ral said with a huff.

" _Tray_ _!_ _Good to see you, again._ _Report._ _"_ Captain Marcant replied over the audio transmission.

"We were attacked by the local wildlife when we arrived. Our hyperdrive and long-range communications were damaged during the attack. Repairs have been unsuccessful and resources are scarce, Sir." Tray explained.

" _Ah. I see. Now that we've located you, relief efforts are forthcoming. How's your team and what intel and survey information can you share_ _?_ _"_

"All accounted for, but we have three wounded. One serious, Private Manrica Santiago, has sustained extensive burn injuries. He has an allergy to bacta and kolto isn't working much better. Request we med-evac him as soon as possible. Private Taddrei Kilport has received two laceration wounds to his chest, but treatment from locals combined with kolto is working. Lastly, Lance Corporal Katlin Loran was grazed on the shoulder by a gunshot but won't require further treatment."

" _I see. Let's make Private Santiago a high priority and transport him directly to the burn med bay. I assume there is more to report about the planet itself?"_

Tray glanced to Ral for a second and he said, "Yes, Sir, the people are almost Jedi-like in their fighting abilities and the creatures are like nothing we've encountered. There is a completely unique power source, called dust, that is previously unknown, to my knowledge. Generally, the people exist peacefully with a few fringe criminal elements. There is a significant danger in the larger predatory wildlife, called Grimm, although the typical Grimm don't stand a chance against a good blaster."

"… _Okay…_ _so what is your opinion on our colonization efforts?_ _"_

Tray nervously swallowed on seeing the look that Ral gave him, but he said, "I put it to a vote, Sir. I couldn't in good conscience single-handedly change the history of an entire culture. There were some disagreements, but we've come to a majority vote that we should try to colonize Planet Remnant."

" _Remnant?_ _Well, that's prophetic. Is that your own name for it or what the natives call it?_ _"_

"It's what the natives call it. Sir, they aren't much different from normal humans once you look past their…strange abilities." Tray replied with confidence.

" _Abilities? Explain, Tray._ _"_

Tray paused and said, "I…can't say I fully understand it, Sir. The predators I mentioned earlier, the natives call them the Creatures of Grimm. There are a select few who volunteer for the life of what they call a Huntsman. These Huntsman use extraordinary weapons and powers that I haven't even seen on holovids of Jedi."

" _What kinds of weapons and powers? This does sound like a little much._ _"_

"I know you sound doubtful, but I don't think many people in the galaxy have thought of combining a machete and a gun into the same weapon. Same with people making knife-guns…or gun boots." Tray replied simply.

" _Okay, they have strange weapons. What_ _'_ _s this about powers?_ _"_

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, Sir. Just know that there are some very strange abilities here. They call it an Aura; an inner power and some have extensions of their aura called a Semblance. We've run into one of their warriors, a Huntress I believed she was called, that can form a symbol in mid-air that looked like a platform to jump on and move around a fight very quickly. I think one of those same symbols used some sort of ice-like missile. The only other two we've come across and fought were able to conjure up illusions of different kinds." Tray explained.

" _That_ _…_ _makes absolutely no sense. Please tell me you_ _'_ _re joking, Tray._ _"_

"I wish I wasn't, Captain. Just as what I just said makes no sense, neither does the concept of space travel or a whole new galaxy make sense to these people. Only very few people know the truth about us, and they are having a hard time coming to terms with it."

"I see…I'm going to trust your judgement on this, Tray." Captain Marcant said officially. HIs voice was a bit faded for the next part, but he could still be heard over the comms. "Plot a course for the planet that the survey team was dispatched to."

Tray smiled in relief on hearing that. Taddrei, Manrica, and even Katlin could get some proper medical attention and rest and not have to worry about healing naturally. Manrica would still need a lot of time, but at least he could get far better treatment than just time, bandage wrappings, and a lot of bored sleeping.

" _If that will be all, hopefully we can speak to each other in person the next time we speak, Tray._ _"_ Captain Marcant said with barely restrained relief.

"Sir…you should know something first." Tray stated, glancing over to Ral.

" _Go ahead, Tray._ _"_

"We found a…local who knows about the Empire. He's the only one who knows the full story about us, and only a select few know that life exists off their planet. Other than that, no one on Remnant knows of our existence."

"… _Very well. What do you suggest we do about this?_ _"_

"Nothing. This native is friendly to us once he learned that we aren't with the Empire anymore." Tray replied simply.

" _Is that all you have to report?_ _"_

"I feel like the rest would be better in person, Captain." Tray said honestly.

" _Very well, Tray. We will be there as soon as we can._ _"_

"Thank you Sir. I look forward to it." Tray said with a salute, even though he was sure that Marcant wouldn't see it.

The probe droid slowly hovered closer to the ground and it seemed to go into some kind of shut down mode, perhaps to save power for another comm relay.

"What now, Imperial?" Ral asked, crossing his arms and letting out a rare humored smile. "Declare you intentions of claiming this world for he Empire?" he continued in a joking tone, though it was obvious that he did harbor at least some apprehension at the thought of the deserters having been very convincing liars this whole time.

"Ral, give it a rest. Yes, we still wear the trappings of the Empire, but we're no longer with it." Tray said with a slightly exasperated sigh.

"I know that, Imperial. I'm just practicing for when I meet your fellow deserters." Ral said with a joking smile, walking back to the cockpit.

"…If that was a joke, you're gonna need some work…" Tray mumbled under his breath as he followed after the Jedi to the cockpit.

"So how'd the Captain react to getting a call from us?" Shejas asked when Tray and Ral walked into the cockpit.

"Pretty well, actually. He asked for a status report and the Equinox is making it's way to Remnant, as we speak." Tray happily said, a near constant smile on his face.

"Good to hear, boss. Now can we go back to what's home right now and just pass out until then? I'm done seeing or hearing that we've lost all of our fights on this planet so far." Shejas said, adding the last part with a nervous chuckle.

"I can relate, to be honest," Ral said, with both Imperials looking over their shoulders at the Jedi in shock. "Remnant is a harsh world to get used to, and I…landed in one of the harder parts of the world. Atlas' landmass is mostly frozen, and I was close to freezing to death had I not stumbled onto a military patrol." he explained.

"Wow…a Jedi about to die to the weather. Never thought I'd hear that coming from you of all people, Ral." Shejas said seriously.

"Ironically enough, I was trespassing on military property like you all did." Ral added with another strangely humored chuckle.

"Hey, you told us to go there..." Shejas mumbled.

"Not directly. You just trespassed that base on your way to the place I pointed out to you." Ral replied with a shrug.

"…Ya know what?" Shejas said, lightly smiling to Ral as he waved his hand in a faked dismissing manner and focused back on flying, with Tray doing the same, but without the gesture.

The shuttle flew low over the forest to avoid getting the attention of any Giant Nevermores as Shejas sped back to Ral's cliffside home. An hour and a half later, and the cliff was in sight. "I guess this is almost our home right now." Shejas commented as the shuttle neared the cliff.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. You all are more than welcome to stay until your Star Destroyer gets here, but don't expect me to house all of you." Ral said seriously. His heart went out to them, being on the run from almost everyone and all, but he knew that he and the others that lived there couldn't handle that. Besides, his home was far too close to Vale. It would be seen virtually the moment it hovered in the atmosphere.

"Hey, Ral, where would you suggest the Equinox set up once it arrives?" Tray asked, wanting to try working on something as soon as possible for his 'family.'

"Well…There's really only one landmass that none of the kingdoms inhabit, that's not completely swamped by the creatures of Grimm." Ral started to explain, pulling out a map of Remnant on his scroll and showing it to Tray. "It's this one here. The one that looks like a strange Kryat Dragon with wings." he added, pointing to a dragon-shaped continent in the upper left corner of the map.

"What about this one? It's further away from Mistral on the map." Tray suggested, tapping at a fish-shaped landmass.

"That would be Menagerie. There are already settlements of Faunus there. A few decades ago, there was a war between Humans and Faunus. Humans wanted to restrict the Faunus to this continent, but some Faunus actually liked it there and they stayed even after the Faunus Revolution was over." Ral explained.

"Oh."

"It is understandable. You are still new to this world, after all." Ral replied with a light chuckle.

"Alright. That's all I needed to know for now." Tray stated, walking back into the cockpit and sitting down in his usual seat.

The shuttle flew toward Ral's cliffside home and landed in the hangar. The hangar doors fully closed behind them when the three stepped out. Without saying a word, Ral turned and headed for the quartering area to meditate, leaving Tray and Shejas by themselves.

"So...what now, boss?" Shejas asked curiously, looking at Tray.

"We wait, Shejas. We wait."

 **And that is a wrap, yall! This brings an end to the first arc! Hope to see you guys next time with a new arc!**


	20. Chapter 20

5 of 5

 **Hey all, here we go with the twentieth chapter and the first chapter of the next arc of this here story! Hope you enjoy yet another Equinox chapter!**

 **Also, sorry bout the short chapter after so long, but I really should get something out to you guys and make this the next main arc, but much shorter than the first one.**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth. Please support the official releases.**

 **Chapter 20: Journey of a Few Thousand Parsecs.**

Captain Marcant closed his comm call with Tray and sighed with relief, a real smile on his face for the first time in almost a week. He looked to the pilots of the _Equinox_ and said, "Plot a course for the planet that we dispatched Lieutenant Dimsill's survey team to." he ordered.

A resounding call of 'yes sir's echoed throughout the bridge. The main pilot turned around and said, "Sir, we may need to make a detour jump to move out of the way of any asteroid fields and planets that are between us and our new destination."

"Do what you need to do." Marcant replied calmly, knowing that it was best to listen to the experts when it came to the safety of his ship and crew. He walked to the back of the bridge and stood at the main holo display, looking at the scan data that the probe droid had taken after it arrived on Remnant.

A few minutes later, the _Equinox_ jolted forward, the all-too familiar surge of hyper-space combined with the cosmos stretching out before their eyes. He watched the admittedly annoying tunnel of hyper-space for a few moments before turning his gaze away from it. The trip for their first jump was uneventful…until they came out of hyper-space.

"Captain! Rebel patrol fleet dead ahead of us!"

Marcant's eyes snapped toward the viewing port and indeed saw a small patrol fleet.

"Get us back into hyper-space!" Marcant ordered.

"It'll take us some time, Sir! Those Rebels have dispatched fighters to attack!"

"Scramble our own! And man all guns!" Marcant bellowed out.

"Yes Sir!"

In a different part of the ship, the surviving members of Specter Squadron gathered with a few other pilots. The leader of this other squad approached Alyssia. He saluted and said, "Ma'am, you and your friend here are more experienced than us. It would be an honor for you to lead my men for this battle."

Alyssia simply nodded and put on her helmet. "Sure. I can fly a lot better in an Interceptor than in a Fighter any day. The torpedo launcher upgrades just makes it even better." she said, her helmet hissing as the seals locked in place. She walked up to a TIE Interceptor and was lifted up by a small platform. She stepped off the platform and opened up the top hatch, climbing in and quickly checking through everything that she needed to get her Interceptor up and running.

"Ghost and Specter Squadron, sign off." Alyssia said formally as she awaited their confirmation.

" _Specter-One, reporting in."_

" _Specter-Four, standing by."_

" _Ghost-Leader, standing by."_

" _Ghost-One, ready to go."_

" _Ghost-Two, reporting in."_

" _Ghost-Three, good to go here."_

" _Ghost-Four, standing by."_

" _Ghost-Five, ready to give em hell."_

"Good. Everyone, lift off and let's get those Rebels!" Alyssia proclaimed, pulling her Interceptor off the hangar floor and shooting it off into space.

" _Good thing we've got torpedo launchers added on. We're more than just fast TIE Fighters now."_ Specter-One commented.

" _I still think we should've added shields first. You-Know-Who would still be alive if we—"_ Specter-Four replied, only for Alyssia to interrupt him right then and there.

"Guys, no chatter.'" Alyssia deadpanned, making the other two pilots shut up. "Keep in formation and let's go right for the nearest Rebel fighters." she ordered, hearing a resounding chorus of affirmation.

The TIE Interceptors soon shot past a few wings of TIE Fighters at speeds that still impressed Alyssia. "Rebel fighters in sight!" she announced to the two squadrons.

"On it!" Specter-One replied, locking on to one of the X-wings and giving just a little bit of a surprise in the form of a torpedo. _"I love it when they freak out!"_ he laughed when the entire squad very quickly scattered when TIE Interceptors of all things started to fire proton torpedoes at them.

Alyssia said nothing and barreled down on the X-wing that was in the lead of the Rebel squadron, locking onto it and opening fire. She frowned when the fighter managed to dodge her volley of laser fire and pursued him. She assumed this was the leader since the Rebels predictably flew in a formation with the squadron leader at point. It was too easy to cut off the head of the snake if she was being honest. She focused on locking on to the Rebel Fighter and waited patiently for the perfect opportunity to fire a torpedo at him, also opening fire to keep him from too easily dodging it. A few moments later, the X-wing erupted, the flames instantly snuffed out in the vacuum of space.

She veered off and quickly flew back to the fight.

" _Ghost-Five here, I've got one on me and I can't shake him off!"_ one of the less experienced pilots shouted, clearly starting to panic at the prospect of death.

"Stay alive, Ghost-Five." Alyssia said calmly, zooming to the man's position and watching him do his best to keep a Rebel X-wing off of him. She quickly locked onto the fighter and opened fire, forcing the Rebel to veer off but she wasn't done just yet. She continued to chase after the Rebel, still firing at it until one of her shots hit one of the four engines in the back. The fighter noticeably spun out of control, an obvious testament to that pilot's lack of experience, but that didn't affect Alyssia. As with the many Rebel pilots before this one, she showed him no mercy. She smiled somberly when she saw the ship tear apart, content that it wasn't going to be a threat any longer.

She flew back to the fight once more and saw that her squadron had all but ripped the Rebels to shreds. One would think that the Rebels would have more competent pilots, but she supposed they had just been lucky dealing with the greenhorns of the Rebel Alliance…or was it the New Republic now? Doesn't matter. They're still a bunch of inexperienced children compared to most Imperial pilots with the exception of the infamous and very feared Rogue Squadron and a few lesser known pilots.

She quickly shook those stray thoughts out of her mind and immediately refocused on the battle raging around her. "Specter Squad, Ghost Squad, report. Any Rebel fighters in sight?" she ordered, with authority. She listened as both groups reported in, saying that they weren't seeing any more Rebel fighters in the immediate area. "Move out to the starboard section of the _Equinox_ , everyone," she announced. "I don't want a single Rebel in the zone. Specter Squadron, fly over the top of the ship. Ghost Squadron, fly under the bottom. Let's pin them down."

" _Check."_

" _Yes ma'am."_

" _Moving."_

" _Affirmative."_

" _Roger that."_

A few more resounding phrases of affirmation sounded out and the squadron of Interceptors sped from the port side of the _Equinox_ to the starboard side. The members of Specter Squadron followed Alyssia's TIE over the top of the ship while Ghost Squadron flew under the bottom. Once the large ship was crossed over, the two separate groups barreled down on an unsuspecting wing of Rebel ships that were engaged with two squads of TIE Fighters. These Rebels were either good pilots or they were suicidal. All that mattered now was that it was three TIE wings against one Rebel wing, and they would certainly not last very long.

Alyssia locked on to an A-Wing and opened fire, though the ship seemed to have a boost going on since the ship quickly took off outside of her scopes. Being in a TIE Interceptor had its benefits, and she quickly shifted all power to the engines to keep hot on the A-Wing's trail. _I've got you, Rebel scum!_ she thought to herself when she once more locked on as the ship slowed down. She smiled under her helmet when she launched a torpedo at the Rebel fighter and opened fire at it to damage the shields before it inevitably hit him. The A-Wing fell apart, with the soon to be lifeless pilot floating out into space. "Rebel down!" she announced to her wing mates, flying for another Rebel fighter, but one of the TIE Fighters shot it down. Due to the Rebels being massively outnumbered, Alyssia only really watched the fight go down with only one TIE Fighter being lost on the Imperials' side while the entire Rebel squadron was decimated.

" _Specter Squadron, Ghost Squadron, this is the_ Equinox _speaking, we picked up a wing of Y-Wing bombers headed for the_ Equinox's _power systems. We're sending you the coordinates right now. Intercept and destroy those Rebels."_ a voice announced to the members of said squadrons.

"Yes sir. Alright, everyone, let's hit those Y-wings so hard they won't know what happened." Alyssia ordered, a gleeful smile on her face from the thought of killing more Rebels. It was safe to say that her hatred for them was reignited after the death of her brother. She sped toward the given coordinates, almost ignoring her squad as she got a dangerous case of tunnel vision. It wasn't until the vacuum of space snuffed out the first explosion from the destroyed Y-Wings did she shake it off and refocus on the task at hand. She barreled down on one of the now-scattered Y-Wings and engaged her targeting computer to make it lock on. She was about ready to open fire, but an X-Wing veered dangerously close to her, forcing Alyssia to veer off to the side at the last second to avoid a crash. She looked over her shoulder as best as she could, but she soon lost sight of the Rebel Fighter.

She made a clicking sound of annoyance and continued to once more lock onto a Y-Wing that might not have been her original target. She locked onto it and opened fire, catching the ship's right engine and shooting it almost cleanly off. The Y-Wing quickly fell apart from the sudden loss of one of its engines, with Alyssia's Interceptor flying off.

" _Specter-One! I need some backup here! I've got two Rebels on me and I can't shake them!"_

"On my way, Specter-One!" Alyssia replied almost too quickly, flying off toward her wing mate's position and seeing an X-Wing and an A-Wing trying to shoot down Specter-One, but he wasn't staying still long enough for them to really get a shot off on him. "Hold on for five more seconds and they'll be in range." she calmly said.

" _I don't have five seconds!"_

"Well, just speed up or something!"

" _I! Am!"_ Specter-One angrily yelled, veering off course to try knocking the two Rebels off aim.

"Got em!" Alyssia yelled, locking on to the A-Wing and firing a torpedo to keep the fighter off of her wingman. While the A-Wing quickly spun away to avoid the missile lock, Alyssia locked onto the X-Wing and lit it up with laser fire, destroying the unsuspecting Rebel with ruthless precision. "You're all clear, Specter-One. Take out that A-Wing that flew off."

" _Great job, pilots. The Rebels are in full retreat. Come back to the_ Equinox _so we can get out of here."_ Captain Marcant announced to all of the surviving TIE wings.

Alyssia briefly looked at the aftermath of the battle and saw that most of the Rebel ships were destroyed yet again. She couldn't help but feel far more satisfied than she thought she would feel from this. She turned her TIE around and flew toward the _Equinox_ , Specter and Ghost Squadron flying in formation around her. A few other TIE wings flew into the hanger both before and after Alyssia's squadron did.

A few moments later, the pilots all started to climb out of their TIE's, with Alyssia all but tearing off her helmet to take in a breath of fresh air. She always did hate the TIE pilot suits, but without any sort of life-support on board, she couldn't really do much of anything about that right now.

"Head count. Did we lose anyone?" Alyssia asked, looking at her gathered squad. After a few moments of everyone reported in, she was glad to hear that she hadn't lost a single Interceptor. It was certainly better than the last skirmish they had gotten into. All she knew was that she had a lot of anger toward the Rebel Alliance that she had to get out of her system in some way…and she was perfectly fine with killing Rebels to do it. "Squad, dismissed. Get some rest." she said as she turned to walk away.

 **And that's a wrap. See you guys next chapter!**


	21. Chapter 21

7 of 7

 **Hey there, new chapter you guys. Hope ya'll enjoy!**

 **Just as a bit of a fun thing, I decided to put up a few polls to see what you guys think of the story, as well as get a general feel of what you guys would like to see in the story. I'm not saying I'm going to do everything the polls lean toward, but I would like to consider what you all would like to see or think of this story so far. I will likely make a new poll with every chapter for a little while.**

 **I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. Star Wars belongs to Disney and RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **Chapter 21: Arrival**

The _Equinox_ was once more flying through hyperspace after the Rebel retreat, needing only one more stop before the straight shot to Remnant. Marcant had to leave the bridge due to the nausea he was experiencing from his prolonged staring out at hyperspace. As he ambled through the hallways of the ship, he passed by a few crew members who all saluted him as he passed, with him casually telling them to relax.

Marcant eventually found himself close to the brig of the ship. The Stormtroopers on guard outside straightened up on seeing their Captain, but he was quick to say, "At ease, soldiers."

The guards relaxed, though they were clearly not used to an Imperial officer not being the most arrogant person in the galaxy. One of the two guards quickly waved a device somewhat close to Marcant and said, "Go on, sir. You're scanned and cleared to go through".

"Thank you." Marcant said, smiling politely at the guard as he walked through the unlocked door.

"I don't really know what you would want with prisoners, sir." the other guard said, only for the first one to seemingly glare at him through his helmet.

"Loyalists or not, they are still my crew until we can find a safe way to download them without compromising our location…which I don't see happening any time soon." Marcant said very simply as the door opened and he walked through. Just on the other side of the door were more Stormtroopers and a young officer. They all saluted Marcant, but he was quick to dismiss them to their duties. _I really need to make an announcement sometime to tell them to stop saluting me every time someone sees me outside the bridge…_ he thought in slight annoyance.

The officer cleared his throat and said, "What brings you here, Captain?" he asked, clearly not being used to someone of such importance on such a large ship coming down to the brig. Most high ranking officers often wanted nothing to do with prisoners unless it was a high value one such as a Rebel leader.

"I can't inspect my crew?" Marcant politely replied with a light smile at the officer.

"Yes, sir. As you can see, we're doing fine, Captain. Everything is operating as it should." the man replied, still a little perturbed at the surprise inspection.

"It's good to hear that you are all doing well, but I meant the _other_ crew." Marcant replied softly.

"Oh…I…Well, we're not mistreating them, just as you ordered."

"Yes, but how are they doing?" Marcant repeated.

"I…As far as I can tell, they doing fine, sir…Is anyone truly happy when imprisoned?"

"Fair enough, officer. I would like to speak to the former Captain, regardless." Marcant said patiently.

"Y-Yes sir. Right this way." the officer answered, turning around and gesturing to Marcant to follow him. Marcant followed the man down the hall to the series of cells. It was disturbingly quiet, just like the rest of the ship, though some muffled snippets of conversation could be heard through the doors. The officer stopped by one and pulled out a stun pistol and pressed the button to open the door. Unlike the other cells that normally held between seven or ten prisoners, this cell had only one woman inside it.

She looked up at Marcant and narrowed her eyes. "Traitor…" she growled, sneering at him.

"Aww…Is that anyway to treat your captor?" Marcant asked a little light-heartedly as he walked into the cell and heard the door close shut behind him. "You know I'm not putting you in a crowded cell like the rest of them, Skytia."

"And why? Why give me special treatment?" Skytia angrily snapped.

Marcant hesitated, his heart sinking upon seeing and hearing how angry she was with him. "I think you know why. Just because you chose to remain loyal to the Empire doesn't change us…right?" he asked sadly.

"Of course it changes everything, Marcant! You're nothing but a traitor! Not only to the Empire, but to me!" Skytia yelled hatefully, though a noticeable tinge of hurt was hidden in her tone.

Marcant's eyes softened and he knelt down in front of Skytia. "Sky, you know exactly why I can no longer stomach the Empire's unadulterated… _brutality_ ," he said softly, looking into her eyes. "I just wish you could see the truth as we do." he added sadly, taking her hand and almost subconsciously moving to wrap his arms around her.

Skytia's glare softened for a moment before glaring at Marcant and beginning to try pushing him away. "Don't touch me!" she hissed.

Marcant was slightly taken off balance and he took a step back from her. "I…very well." he said. He quietly sighed and looked at her, secretly glad that Skytia had yet to remove the necklace from around her neck. _There is still hope for you. I just know it!,_ he thought as he turned around and opened the door once more, the officer from earlier standing just outside with his blaster ready, just in case.

The newest Captain of the _Equinox_ stepped out from the cell and stopped to briefly look back at Skytia. "…I love you, Sky." he quietly whispered to her, turning back around and closing the cell door behind him.

"Sir?" the young officer hesitantly inquired.

"I'm fine…as fine as one who's best friend stays blindly loyal to the Empire can be." Marcant quietly said, forcing his voice to stay steady as his heart groaned knowing Skytia remained adamant in her loyalty to the Empire.

"I'm…sure the former captain will come around, Sir." the officer said a little awkwardly, not really sure what to say to a high authority figure in a time like this.

"I hope so…I hope so." Marcant said a little somberly, taking in a deep breath before straightening back up into a pose more proper of a proud captain and walked away from the cell.

The officer watched Marcant walk away and quietly sighed as he was thought of the price that some were paying for their mutiny. He followed Marcant back to the entrance to the brig and took up his usual position at the main console.

Marcant left the brig and nodded to the two guards when they saluted him yet again. Feeling saddened by Sky's stubbornness to even think about it, he waved them off and began to walk down the halls in an aimless manner.

Eventually, he made his way back to the bridge after nearly an hour of wandering the halls of the ship and walked toward one of the flight officers. "How much longer until we reach the next stop?" he asked.

"We're coming out of hyperspace now actually." the officer replied, slightly humored at the timing of the question.

Just as the officer said, the _Equinox_ came out of the tunnel of hyperspace, the ship jerking just a little bit as a result.

"Sir. We picked up another signal! It's a few Rebel transports from the look of it." A nearby officer reported.

Marcant held back a very annoyed groan and said, "You know the drill. Man the turrets and scramble our fighters in case there are Rebel fighters or cruisers around."

"Sir, the Rebels…they're retreating. We're not picking up any signs of a transmission, though we are jamming them now, Captain."

"Something's not right. They would've sent out at least something. Keep the turrets manned and have the TIE's ready to fly at a moment's notice."

"Done, Sir." the man replied.

"Be ready to fight, but I want the hyperdrive charged up. We're not on a destroy mission. If they want to avoid a fight, I have no problem leaving them alone." Marcant replied simply.

"Yes, Sir."

"Send a message to the ship; tell them we don't want a fight." Marcant ordered as an after thought.

"I can't see them believing us, Sir…"

"Just do it, officer.", Marcant replied in slight annoyance.

"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Captain."

"Just don't let it happen again." Marcant grumbled as he walked toward the back of the bridge. "Where are those Rebel ships going? Any signs?"

"Sir, it looks like they're heading for an asteroid field. We'd need to get closer to scan any further, but we did just tell those Rebels we don't want a fight."

Marcant thought over what to do for a moment and said, "…Send a few TIE Interceptors to fly around and follow them. Tell them not to engage any Rebels under any circumstances. They are only to determine where those transports are going."

"Yes, Captain."

In her quarters, Alyssia quietly groaned when she was one of the pilots assigned to the scouting mission that didn't give her any leeway in attacking Rebels. But whatever the Captain said is what was going to happen. She dressed into her pilot uniform and grabbed her helmet on the way out of her room. When she reached the hangar, she saw the surviving members of her squadron gathered as well. "Well…better us than pilots who've never worked together." she commented with a small grin before she began to put her helmet on.

"You've got that right, ma'am." Specter-One replied, putting his helmet on as well.

"Let's go before we lose those transports." Alyssia said as she climbed up a ladder before getting up on her Interceptor and sliding down into the cockpit.

Specter-One and Specter-Four followed her example and began to start up their Interceptors, following Alyssia out as the three TIEs shot out into space to follow their targets.

"Remember, give them the most room possible. Just take it slow, you two." Alyssia ordered as her TIE led her wing mates to the asteroid belt.

" _Roger."_ Specter-One replied, veering a little bit to fly around a small piece of debris from a battle, years, if not centuries ago. _Another reminder of how little we've changed…_ he thought to himself.

The three Interceptors flew into the asteroid field and began to make their way toward the transports. "Keep it steady, you two." Alyssia said as a reminder.

" _Yes mum."_ Specter-Four quipped, keeping his flight path quite stable in spite of his rebellious joke.

"Enough…"

" _Okay."_

The formation navigated the asteroids without incident until they came into a break in the field. They saw a space station with the Rebel transport ships heading toward it.

"Looks like they have some new base out here." Alyssia mused.

" _Looks like it, Captain Obvious."_

"…Specter-Four, enough already. I swear, you're worse than that Zabrak pilot sometimes."

" _Pfft. As if."_

" _Specter-One here, think we've got everything we need?"_

"Looks like it. It's just some space station. Nothing we need to concern ourselves with," Alyssia said. "Let's head back and report in.", she ordered, turning her TIE around. The three ships made it back to the _Equinox_ and quickly docked in the hangar.

Almost the moment that Alyssia's feet touched the hangar floor, a deck member approached them. "The Captain would like your report as soon as possible."

"Of course." Alyssia said, heading for a communication console near the exit of the hangar. She pressed a button on it and waited for the bridge to pick up on the comm call. "This is Alyssia 'Specter-Leader.' I have a report for the Captain." she said when someone picked up.

" _One moment, Specter-Leader."_

Alyssia waited for a few moments before a hologram of Captain Marcant popped up. "Yes, Specter-Leader. You have that report for me." he stated more than he asked.

"Sir. My wing mates and I followed those transports just as ordered. There is what appears to be a space station of some kind in the midst of that asteroid field."

" _Doesn't sound like any sort of concern for us."_ Marcant replied.

"Indeed, Sir."

" _That was all I needed to know, Specter-Leader. You're dismissed."_

"Sir." Alyssia replied with a curt salute. She turned around and saw her wing mates from the mission walking away from her, talking to each other. She wasn't one for eavesdropping, but she did hear a small part of what they were saying. She nervously swallowed on hearing what they said, and she approached them, doing her best to not yell at them. "For the record, Jereque and I did not have that kind of relationship." she said plainly, startling her wing mates.

"S-Sorry, Miss Levant…We just…we just assumed." Specter-Four said in embarrassment from being caught.

"Please don't call me that, Lukras. Just call me Alyssia when we're off duty. You too, Montie."

"Er…yes ma'am." Lukras and Montie replied, feeling slightly more casual, though still stiff from getting caught. "If…If you don't mind my asking, Alyssia…what kind of relationship _did_ you and Jereque have?" Lukras asked curiously.

"Siblings. Nothing less. Nothing more," Alyssia replied, crossing her arms and smirking just a tiny bit at the two. "We found it pretty funny that you assumed we were married instead of the more obvious sibling relationship." she said, chuckling in amusement.

 _You were a little…close for us to think you're siblings…_ Montie thought, though he wouldn't dare say that to his squad leader—not so soon after Jereque's death.

"Well…mission accomplished I guess. Anyone up for a drink in the mess hall?" Alyssia said, having a feeling that it would be best to have this conversation some other time and place.

"Sounds good, ma'am." Montie replied with a smile, always happy to have a moment to drink, be it alone or with comrades and friends.

"I guess a few drinks couldn't hurt. Sure, let's go." Lukras replied with a shrug and turning around to start heading for the mess hall.

Shortly after Alyssia's debriefing with Marcant ended, an officer approached him and said, "Sir, the ship is ready to enter hyperspace again. We have a straight shot to Remnant now."

"Good. It's about time we got there without something getting in the way. Tell the pilots to make the jump."

The officer saluted took a step away from Marcant to do as he was ordered. "Sir."

Marcant turned to watch the blue streaks of light as the Star Destroyer sped up until the blue streaks became a pure blue whirlpool of light.

" _We have now entered hyperspace and are en route to the planet Remnant. Estimated time of arrival: three standard hours._ " a voice announced over a ship-wide communication.

Marcant let out a small smile and he turned around to once more head for the exit to the bridge. "Phlio, you have the bridge." he announced.

"Yes, Sir."

Marcant left the bridge and he himself headed for his quarters. Once he arrived, he walked in and sat at the edge of his bed. _I doubt I will get much rest once we arrive…I should get some sleep in while I can…_ he thought as he stood up and began to remove his uniform to change. He crawled into his bed and went to sleep, thinking of just how big a debriefing Lieutenant Tray owed him after nearly two weeks with only one communication between his team and the _Equinox_.

As Marcant slept, the Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace. His quarter's comm rang off, waking him up. He crawled out of bed to pick up the call. "Yes?"

" _Captain, this is XO Phlio. We are coming out of hyperspace, and have reached the coordinates."_

"Thank you, Phlio." Marcant replied a little sleepily, ending the call.

Moments later, another shipboard announcement rang out. _"Attention. We have now arrived at Remnant. All hands stand by."_


End file.
